


The Dividing Lines

by CaptainAmericaontheTardis



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space Pirates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Artificial Intelligence, Attempt at Humor, Cunnilingus, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Evil Grant Ward, F/F, First Kiss, First Meetings, First Time, Helen Cho being a badass, Kidnapping, Made up worlds, Making Out, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Sexual Content, Shower Sex, Slavery, Slow Burn, Space Pirates, Space Ships, Telepathy, Threats of Violence, Verbal Abuse, Violence, cheesy tropes, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-24
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-04-23 06:04:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 56,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4865810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainAmericaontheTardis/pseuds/CaptainAmericaontheTardis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Our mind is capable of passing beyond the dividing line we have drawn for it. Beyond the pairs of opposites of which the world consists, other, new insights begin." -Hermann Hesse</p><p>Dr. Jemma Simmons is a Librarian, protecting the lost art of paper made books from being lost forever, transporting five priceless books to the planet of O-Nah on a ship made for royalty. Not to far away, a pirate, simply known in the void as "Skye" has plans to take the ship. These two souls will collide and their universe will never be the same again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Mockingbird

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! So this is going to be a longer fic, it's not beta'd and if any one would like to beta it, I would love to work with them :) There may be a few plot holes but I'm working on it. Updates every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I hope you enjoy! :)

Jemma grunted as she swung her extremely heavy briefcase onto the precarious ramp up towards the space ship, “The Mockingbird”. She was a high class vessel, mainly transporting diplomats and politicians so it was a vacation vessel as much as a simply a transport. 

This was Jemma’s first time ever in space, in fact she had never even taken a airplane before, there was never any need too in her life. She had graduated from the same college with a ,masters degree and had immediately began working for that same university, preserving and cataloging old old books. Although the old fashioned method of reading on paper had long since died out, many universities still held onto a certain amount of copies for history’s sake. 

And Jemma Simmons was in charge of those books, taking pristine care of them and even indulging the curiosities of certain students to hold a real life book in their hands. She didn’t know why she was chosen for this job, transporting the five volumes to the Planet dominion of Tah-U-Oh, actually she did, she was the foremost expert on hard copies and ancient technology so she had the qualifications to move them and relocate them safely. However, as said before she had never gone anywhere besides the places she visited in stories and the idea of being in space made her stomach churn and her cheeks turn green. 

Although, it was said that space travel was as safe as in atmosphere travel nowadays and was used by millions of people a day, knowing that information didn’t help her nerves. She had read up thoroughly on ever thing that could possibly go wrong and the best way to survive in nearly every situation. She was probably more prepared than everyone else on board, but they seemed to only care about the few days off while they were traveling on the elegant vessel. 

“The Mockingbird” was an engineering and architectural masterpiece as far as Jemma was concerned, not only was it the quietest and smoothest vessel on the market, it was beautiful, a true visionary’s piece of art. The hull was a shiny gold color with “The Mockingbird” printed in silver lettering. 

An attendant stood at the very top of the ramp and took tickets from the passengers. She was dressed in the same uniform as everyone on the vessel with a post navy looking hat, she was short with thick brown hair tied uselessly under the brim of the hat. She smiled and made conversation with everyone coming on board. 

Jemma braced herself for the interaction, trying to will away the nausea that was building in her stomach as she heaved the briefcase with the priceless printed books stored in pods inside. The couple in front of her, a diplomat and his husband moved forward and she put up a fake smile for the attendant. 

“Good day, Madame, may I see your ticket please?” The woman, whose name tag said, Daya, smiled brightly and reached a hand out expectantly. 

Jemma obliged and handed her the ticket, she secretly hoped that something went wrong and she would have to go back to her safe home and never have to go to space. But alas, Daya, inspected the piece of paper and handed it back to Jemma with a smile, “Welcome to “The Mockingbird” Miss Simmons please enjoy the journey.”

Jemma nodded but her smile faded as she walked into the ship and the churning in her gut became increasingly worse. A man stopped her just inside the hatch, “Would you like me to help you with your bags today, Ma’am?”

Jemma gripped onto her suitcase tighter, “Um.. No thank you, I’ve got it, thanks.” The man tipped his hat and gave her a questioning look but smiled and pointed her in the right direction. Her room wasn’t very hard to find as they had the numbers labeled above the doors clearly and she was thankfully on the first deck so she didn’t have to stay on the elevators for very long. 

She glanced at her ticket and then at the corresponding door, room 218A, she swiped the ticket in the scanner and the door quietly pulled open. Upon looking around her room she relaxed instantly, it was a warm, homey looking room and besides the window on the far side she could almost imagine that this wasn’t happening. 

She jumped, however, when a voice carried over from the speakers, “Hello honored guests, this is your captain speaking, welcome to “The Mockingbird” I hope you enjoy your experience with Marvel travels. We will be arriving at our destination in five days time, until then please enjoy our entertainments, such as all day buffet, theater, running track, swimming pool, and live music from our house band. Medical bay in on level 10, please consult our doctors for any and all ailments, your comfort is our priority. Captain Bobbie out.”

From the pictures that she had seen of the Captain Morse, she did feel in good hands at least. The woman must have been at least 6’3 with broad shoulders and straight blonde hair, she didn’t look like the captain of a simple transport vessel, in fact she almost looked military. 

Jemma sat down gingerly on her bed still holding on to the briefcase for dear life, she glanced around the room and sighed. This wasn’t going to be so bad, even if she didn’t want to leave her room there was room service and a TV, The others had the right idea, this would be a vacation. 

She rolled over on her bed and laid there with her eyes squeezed shut as she felt the ship take off, along several more safety announcements from over the intercom. She would have plenty of time to sleep later she though as she held the briefcase to her chest and tried to calm her breathing down. 

 

And it seemed like she rarely left that position in her room, at some points she really wanted to go to that awful window or maybe even go and mingle with the rest of the guests but she didn’t, for three whole days actually, she remained in her room reading or watching the television. Three times a day some polite attendant would bring her high quality food and then come back to take the plates, every time they rung the little buzzer on the side of her door she would jump and imagine the worst. 

It wasn’t until the fourth day that she woke up in slightly higher spirits, she was beginning to get used to the feeling of hyperspace and as long as she didn’t think about the void just outside she was able to keep the nausea to a minimal. 

It was about 10:00 on the fourth day when she stepped through her door, cautiously glancing right and left in the hallway. No one was coming in or out of their rooms, many of them were probably still sleeping the late night off. She took a deep breath and began to walk towards the elevator at the end of the hall. Everything was quiet and muffled on the deep blue carpets. 

Once she skittered into the lift the doors closed and a cool feminine voice filled the small area, “It’s good to see you out of your room Miss Simmons. Which floor would you like?” The ship’s AI seemed just as polite and charming as her crew. 

“Um.. I would like to eat some breakfast.. Please..” Jemma shifted around the cabin, eyes scanning the walls and ceiling. 

“61st floor then.” The AI answered coolly and the lift sped upwards. Jemma could see their movements in the gears at her sides but she couldn’t feel the momentum upwards and a few seconds later the doors opened presumably on the 61st floor. 

“Please enjoy your food. We are glad to have you with us today.”

Jemma mumbled a small thank you and shuffled out into what appeared to be the eating hall, it was rather empty at the time of morning save for a few early birds such as herself. She picked a double table and sat herself down, a few moments later a young woman who couldn’t have been over 17 came to her table. 

“What can I get you to drink, today” she practically cheered,   
“Uh, Water would be fine, thank you. You’re awfully young to be on a ship like this aren’t you?” Jemma felt slightly bad for inquiring but the young woman didn’t seem to mind. 

“Yeah, my dad’s one of the techs here so I go with him sometimes, and at least waiting tables gives me something to do.” She smiled, “I’ll have that water out for you in a sec.” 

Jemma got her food and sat back down at her table where a fresh glass of water was setting for her, as she ate her meal, more and more people stumbled in looking for food and refreshments and the atmosphere became louder and louder but, as Jemma realized, it never got too loud and the place remained rather relaxing. She soon became more accustomed to the idea of being out of her room.

She spent the rest of the day doing many of the activities that she had missed out on on the previous days and she really did have a good time. She even made plans to see the house band play that evening, a rock band by the name of “Nebula and the stars”, perhaps being in space wasn’t so bad after all.


	2. Interception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "The Mockingbird" is intercepted by a Pirate ship and Jemma meets an unusual character.

Not very far away from the ostentatious cruise ship’s current trajectory, a small unmarked vessel was floating in space. It was barely a quarter the size of the Mockingbird and, also, barely holding together. 

It was hard to tell if this ship had always been this rough as it would be difficult to imagine it in pristine condition. It looked like it had been caught between a moon and a war ship. 

The naked eye could see dents and imprints of past encounters. Ripped scrapes lined the sides of the vessel, taking away nearly all distinct identification markings or numbers. However, with a more careful examination one could possibly see, through the carnage, the designation of the ship in cracked and faded lettering; It read “The Hula Girl” 

“The Mockingbird is approaching our location.” A harsh sounding AI announced loudly, and a woman’s head shot up, hitting the top of her navigation panel hard with the top of her head.

“Goddammit! Give me some warning next time, will ya?” The woman rubbed her face and groaned, a bright red mark from where she had been laying on the console took up the left side of her face.

“I just did.” The AI sassed and the Captain flipped the roof of the cabin off, “Very mature, Captain.” The AI Quipped and the captain rolled her eyes.

She spent the next couple of minutes glancing over what looked like holographic blue prints and scans of “The Mockingbird” on the sensor of her console. “How long till they intercept?”

“That depends” The AI explained dryly “On if you still want to go through with this awful plan or if you’ve smartened up and we can just hide here until they pass up without incendent”

“Alecta.” The captain warned, attempting to brush back the wild mane of brown hair from her face. 

The AI sighed, “7 minutes and counting, Captain.”

The captain seemed to be having trouble getting her body to wake up and she twirled around in the moving captain’s chair, her eyes closed as she laid out her plans in her head.

The Captain was a bright, young, if not rugged looking woman. Her hair was tangled and wild, tracing it’s way in half curls down her back. She wore a one piece technician’s suit that was at least two sized two big for her and the neck line fell slightly down her shoulder. She was barefoot. When she opened her eyes she seemed ready to go.

“Helen! Can you take the helm for this one?” She shouted out loudly from the door exiting the cabin, there was no answer but 30 seconds later another woman, presumably an android, appeared in the door way as the Captain moved the blueprints and information to her portable device with a flick of her fingers. 

“Of course I can, Skye. However, you have not yet indulged you plan to overtake the Mockingbird, that may make it difficult for me to help you.”

“Snatch and grab? We’re kinda tight on this one but if the catch is as good as the tip says it is we should be sitting pretty for a little while. Come over here and I’ll show you the plans” As she spoke she began to pull on various protective gear, including a shock vest and all terrain combat boots. She put a rather intimidating looking gun into her holster and grabbed a reinforced sack from the pile of misplaced things just to the side of the helm. 

“Alecta I need you to hack the intercom systems, okay? That’s very important.” Skye eyed the ship suspiciously until the same harsh voice scratched through. 

“Fine. If it’s that imperative.” The AI sounded as if she were playing solitaire or knitting as she spoke, barely an inflection in her words. 

“It is that important, I need Helen to get me onto the ship, she can’t do both.” Skye assured and strapped a couple of knives underneath her bra straps. “Time Alecta ?”  
“2 minutes, your majesty.”

Skye ignored her and made her way to the door, “When I give the signal, let her rip, Helen.”

Helen nodded, and began flipping a few of the obviously outdated controls on the helm and watching the signals closely. “Be careful Skye. No job is worth your life.”

Skye laughed, “That’s debatable! I’ll see you on the other side!”-- A few seconds later she popped back through the door--”Hey, do you know where my Ion Torch is?”

.  
.  
.

Jemma threw her head back and laughed at what the lead singer was currently Joking about on stage, she looked better than she had since she had first gotten the news that she was to be on this ship. She had found a small group of acquaintances that were charming and kept up a good conversation and she had found a table with them for the show. 

Jemma sat back in her seat as the music started and the song began, something about a long lost love and finding a new reason to live. It was a catchy tune and she swayed with the rest of her table as it truly started and the drums were added to the music. 

The intercom shrieked loudly even through the concert and the band stopped playing as an alarm began and everyone glanced around. 

“WE ARE UNDER ATTACK. PLEASE GET TO THE NEAREST SAFETY--” The panicked AI was cut short with a crack and suddenly the sounds of what resembled plundering vikings came through the coms, screaming orders and demanding payment, then another voice came through, “Hi everybody, I am the Captain of a very powerful ship. My crew and I, well, we’re here to take your things.” Everyone in the crowd gasped and began to stand. 

“No! No, don’t leave your seats if we see anybody move we will not hesitate to shoot to kill, now stay where you are and everything will be fine and we’ll all get out of this alive.” The voices continued through the intercom, shouting crude threats and wild accusations. The people in the concert hall sat back down, fearful and shaking. 

Jemma was shaking too, however it was because of what she didn’t have on her, she had one goal on this journey and that was to protect those books. If pirates got a hold of them there was no telling what would happen to them, the physical history that would be lost. 

She yelped as the door slid open and a pirate walked in, she was rugged and looked as if she hadn’t bathed in several days. Her face was smeared with something black and oily. She wore a tight space suit and heavy boots, at her hips were two deadly looking guns. 

She walked in calmly, holding a metallic bag without speaking she held it up to the first person she came across, a mustached man in his late forties. She seemed to be looking at the people as if they were her prey. The man hesitated and looked up at the criminal, his lips trembling. 

She sighed, “Put your goddamn valuables in the goddamn bag before I kill you, you slow motherfucker, some of us got schedules to keep.” The man flinched as if he were struck but immediately began dolling out his valuables into the sack, including credit cards, money, and some expensive looking jewelry. 

From there she went through the concert hall and collected the didn’t have an issue with anybody as they pulled anything of value off of their person. When she got to Jemma and held up the bag, the librarian pulled off her earrings and ring, dropping them in the sack with the rest, she never lifted her head to look at the pirate, but her lip curled in disgust as she finished with the room and left, with a final warning that any body who moved would be killed immediately.

Jemma shook as the door shut behind the pirate, she could still here the pillaging happening through the rest of the ship and her mind went to the delicate books she had in her room. There was no way they would miss them, the briefcase was just inside her closet, a place they would definitely look. Tremors went through her body and her hands were sweating. 

In a moment of insane bravery, she stood up, she closed her eyes for a moment, expecting someone to yell at her or shoot her but nothing happened. Her acquaintances at the table implored her to sit back down but she shook her head and went for the door. It opened for her and she stuck her head out, she expected to see the pirates but there was no one in the hallway. She crouched and sprinted down the empty hall. 

She rubbed the empty place on her finger where the ring had been, her father had given her that ring. But that was a fleeting thought, she didn’t have time for sentimentality in a situation like this. 

A door ahead of her slid open and the same pirate that had taken the people’s valuables stepped out, next to the door was one of the ships crew, knocked out on the floor next to the door, Jemma couldn’t tell if she was dead. The pirate looked both ways and her eyes stopped on Jemma as the librarian froze in the hallway. The pirate pulled out a gun. 

Jemma sprinted the opposite direction to the elevators. “Hey! What the fuck are you doing?” The pirate screamed at her, Jemma didn’t look back but she could hear those heavy boots thumping on the carpet coming ever closer.

Jemma ran face first into the elevator doors but the didn’t open, she banged on the metal furiously but to no avail, he eyes darted to one of the utility vents next to the lift and in a heat of the moment decision she dove into the cramped space. She was only a few feet in to the cove when the door opened behind her, there was no way she would be able to out crawl that despicable criminal but she kept moving forward and a second later the door slid shut, apparently the awful pirate decided that she wasn’t worth the trouble. 

Her breaths were coming in long shaking gasps as she crawled through the duct heading for the end of the it, finally she came upon a ladder that seemed to go all the way down. It was an incredibly long way down and she had to stop at every floor but she continued until she got to her floor and she crawled back out of the utility duct. 

Jemma’s eyes cautiously darted around the floor, but it was just as quiet and empty as the place she came from, also nothing seemed to be out of order. Her imagination told her that she would find a situation close to vikings pillaging a village when she got here but she was wrong, there was nothing out of the ordinary, except for the heavy silence. 

She crawled out and continued to crouch as she made her way to her room, she was nearly there when the entire ship shifted and she fell over with a yelp. The walls seemed to creak at the strain and she clumsily pulled herself back up and crawled towards her door. 

“Hey, you there!” A voice behind her called.

She cried out and slipped into her room, even the books no longer a worry for her, she just wanted to live, she decided that this had been a very bad idea. 

She could hear the footsteps of many people out side her door and she pushed her way into her closet, the briefcase was still there, nothing had changed. She cursed herself, what if all of this was for nothing and they weren’t even looking in the people’s rooms. She sobbed as the footsteps and shouting voices increased and she pulled herself into the closet, closing the door and continuing to cry . 

She heard her door slid open and she slapped a hand over her mouth to try to strangle the cry that almost came out. Those familiar heavy booted feet padded around her, moving hurredly around the room. She screamed as the door to the closet slid open and a hand grabbed her by the back of the neck and ripped her away from the safety of her closet. She continued screaming until a strong hand covered her mouth and she looked up at the pirate, it was the same one that had been chasing her. 

“Ugh, you again. Well now you’re going to be useful at least.” The pirate mumbled distractedly.

Jemma whimpered in response but the pirate ignored her and instead tapped the button to the device next to her ear. “I’m on my way I’ve got a hostage.”

She grabbed Jemma’s wrists and pulled her to her front, “Okay, now you can scream as much as you want.” The pirate shoved her forward and Jemma sobbed, but her last thought as she was pushed into the hallway was that at least the books were safe and she wasn’t going to die for nothing. That thought didn’t stop her from crying as they exited the room. The pirate put a gun to her head and shoved her the last step out. 

They were met by what seemed to be the entire crew of the Mockingbird, all of them holding guns, prepared to shoot the pirate. Captain Morse was at the head of them but as she saw Jemma she put her hands up. 

“Hold your fire!” She commanded 

The pirate pushed the gun closer to Jemma’s head and she cried out, “Put your weapons down or I’ll blow her brains out, I swear to God.”

The crew complied, including Captain Morse who glared at the pirate, “Let her go and we’ll let you out unharmed, on my honor, just let her go.” The captain pleaded, but the pirate chuckled, backing away, she seemed to be patting the edge of the hallway with her foot. 

“Right, like I’m gonna believe that, the only way you’re going to kill me is through her, and do you really want to do that? Huh, Captain?” Her foot went through a piece of the wall and she smiled as she held the gun up and a moment later she was backed up through the apparently holographic wall. 

As the crew of the Mockingbird vanished from her sight she heard Captain Morse’s voice-- “It’s going to be okay, Dr. Simmons; I will find you, You’re--” And then she was cut off.

Jemma found herself in a clear tube outside of the ships, and the pirate screamed as she shoved her hostage forward through the tube. “CLOSE IT! CLOSE IT!”

The tube immediately began to close up behind them and the pirate turned around and pushed Jemma until they emerged into another ship. She pushed the hostage into a corner and left her there, running through the door out, yelling orders. 

Jemma curled up on the floor and cried, she just wanted to go home, and the darkness was overwhelming in this room. She closed her eyes and pretended it was just a nightmare with the Captain’s words repeating over and over again in her head-- “It’s going to be okay.”, “It’s going to be okay...”


	3. "The Hula Girl"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jemma is finally confronted with the pirate that took her hostage and she see's the ship for the first time.

Jemma didn’t know how long she was in that holding room, it felt like forever but in reality it was probably only about an hour with her curled up in the corner as her mind raced over all of the horrible things these barbarians were going to do to her when they came back. She had stopped crying about 30 minutes into the wait but occasionally the tears would fall down again as she thought about her family, her partner Fitz, and her safe cozy library at home. She probably would never see them again. 

She yelped as the door slid open suddenly and that awful pirate stepped in to the holding room, her boots loud on the metal floor. 

The pirate called for the lights to come on and they obeyed, then she scanned the room until her eyes fell on Jemma in the corner. The librarian was currently trying to back herself as far away as possible from her captor. She didn’t look up even though she knew that she was being watched closely. 

“Sorry about that, we had to get to a safe distance.” She didn’t sound as horrible as the first time Jemma heard her voice but that didn’t help to calm her nerves. 

“What are you going to do with me?” Jemma asked, still not looking up at the captor, she was scowling and pulling her knees tighter to her chest.

“Don’t worry, you’re just going to stay with us, then we’ll either ransom you or just drop you off at Tah-Woh. You’ll be back with your wife before you know it.” The pirate sounded cheerful and that made Jemma grimace, but she looked up finally, confused. 

“I don’t have a wife.” She stated bitterly,

The pirate’s eyes widened in surprise and she pulled out her little hand held device, “Really? I just though that the way Morse was talking you guys were married?”

A hologram was activated from the device and Captain Bobbie Morse’s face appeared, even in the holographic state anyone could tell that she was fuming. She snarled at the camera, “I swear on my honor that you will be caught and Dr. Simmons will be returned to me safe and sound, you scum, you’ve just made the worst mistake of your life.”- She practically spat into the moniter.

Her anger actually made Jemma feel warm inside and she let slip a little smile, which was gone as soon as Skye whipped the device off and back into her pocket. “Someone’s looking out for you.” Skye quipped almost bitterly. 

Jemma shook her head, although perhaps, she thought she should have just told the pirate that she was married to Morse, maybe it would have put some fear into her smug face. Jemma looked away, scowling at the wall, she didn’t even glance up when Skye sighed above her in frustration. 

“Ugh, come on, do you wanna see the rest of the ship?” The pirate held her hand out and the Dr. looked at it distastefully. 

“If you want me to..” She almost growled, Skye groaned impatiently, 

“I’m like the nicest captor in the universe, why are you acting like I’m holding a gun to your head?” She squatted down to be on Jemma's level. 

“You did hold a gun to my head!” Jemma snapped, she immediately regretted it, she had never been a hostage before but she guessed it probably wasn’t a good idea to yell at them. Luckily for her though, Skye simply made the same groaning noise, the one that made Jemma feel like she was the one being completely unreasonable. 

“Here, look!” Skye offered, pulling a gun off her hip and pointing it towards her own chest, she pulled the trigger. Jemma screamed at the click, but her reaction was unwarranted, the gun shot out a flash of blue light which bounced off the captain’s suit and then disappeared into the air as quickly as it had been created. 

Jemma’s eyes widened as she processed what she just saw, she paused, “You mean when..” The captain nodded with a small “Yup” in answer and Jemma's jaw tightened. “So I.. You have no bullets.. What kind of pirate are you?”

Skye stood up and placed the empty gun back into it’s holster, “The nice kind..” She glanced back towards the door and added more quietly, “Also arms dealers prices are ridiculous these days...”

Jemma was still processing the new information as the captain looked down at her, “So you want the grand tour or what? It’s gonna be a few days and you’re going to get really bored just sitting in the hold.”

“You trust me?”

" I think I could take you even without my gun.” The captain held her hand out again to aid Jemma.

Jemma didn’t respond, she only continued to scowl but she did rise, using the wall as support rather than Skye’s hand. The captain shrugged and gestured to the door, “Follow me.”

Jemma did and they left through the hold door, into a long connecting hallway. The walls were worn and pieces of metal hung from the corners and from missing screws and bolts in the wall. The carpet was a dull purple color with thin down trodden threading that was coming apart at the edges. 

Only about 6 feet forward the Captain stopped at the first door to the left. The doors opened with a fizzle that didn’t sound healthy at all. Skye didn’t step in but she moved to the side so that Jemma could see in and it was just another shorter hallway, only about 4 feet long, leading to another door. “That’s our containment room where we keep our cargo, mostly plundered items of value, it's also the safest part of the ship because in the case of an emergency it can disconnect from the hull and the warp core.” Skye explained in her best impression of a 8 A.M tour guide. Jemma remained silent. “So if shit blows up, head in here and hold on to your ass.”

Skye nodded proudly and moved forward up the hallway almost four feet and stopped at the next door on the right. It opened with the same worrying crackle into an even more diminutive hall than the last with carpet matching that of the main hall. The walls of this part however were in even worse shape as they were pealed back exposing a back wall with what looked like graffiti, scribbled all over the remaining back panel. As they approached, Jemma could see a broken part of the wall with a junction box nearly hanging out, a blue wire hanging down nearly to the floor 

Skye, then, led her down the tiny decrepit hall to the door at the end. It opened and Skye backed away so that Jemma could see inside, she reluctantly scanned the dark room. In the middle there four poster bed with broken corners. The bed was sort of made, with a mix of a purple and blue afghan and a tattered quilt, complete, with a variety of animals visible on the squares that were actually intact. The pillows were flat but there were a lot of them. There was a tiny bathroom and tub to the side but besides the body length mirror next to the sink the walls were bare, leaving nothing to distract from the crumbling state. 

“This lovely place is my room, you can sleep here till we get there I don’t use it much anyway. The sink and the toilet work but I’m working on the tub so no bath tonight but I’ll get that fixed soon enough.” She stated in a more familiar tone. 

She turned away, not waiting for a response from Jemma and left the little hall of graffiti back into the main hallway and stopped only three feet away on the left side where she led Jemma through a longer and cleaner hallway, with white walls that looked rather strange paired with the tattered old carpet, but at least it looked less exposed than the previous. 

They walked into a octagonal room that was glaring white from ceiling to floor. It was sparkling clean and looked completly different than everything else that Jemma had seen on "The Hula Girl", it looked like it actuallu belonged in the correct century. “This is where Helen recharges or “Sleeps” as you can see she’s really into minimalistic furniture, anyway, if you ever need anything you can come here and if she’s not in the pod she’ll come and see you, the whole thing is wired with her sensors.”

They left that room and Jemma was just thinking that this was going to take forever at this speed when Skye led her to the very end of the hall where a large double door slid open. The captain raised her arms proudly, “And finally, the best room in the house. Welcome to the bridge and command center for “The Hula Girl"

Jemma, honestly, did not have a lot of experience with space ships but she was pretty sure that they weren’t supposed to look like the bridge of "The Hula Girl”. It was just a guess but she figured that space ships weren't supposed to have exposed wiring all along the ceiling, also that thumping noise coming off her left side did not sound healthy. Besides that and the various circuit boards that were exposed with little metal doors hanging off by weak screws, the place was just dirty; it was messy, there were bits of food and cups all over the consoles, and there was a pile of dirty clothes. What kind of “Command Center” has such a thing? Jemma thought. The entire place looked dirty and unsafe according to Jemma. 

Jemma’s noise wrinkled at the sight however Skye smiled and did a small twist in the middle of the floor, kicking a tool box out of the way. “This is where all the action happens!” She stated proudly, then added as if it were a minor detail, “We’re a little low on cash these days but with this job we should be able to fix some stuff up.”

Skye turned away to look at what was probably a navigational console, Jemma stood behind her, not sure what to think about the whole situation. Actually, she did know what to think, she was kidnapped by the worst and most underhanded pirate in history obviously. In terms of a hostage arrangement, it was embarrassing. 

“The Mockingbird” had a pretty good stash on her, it should be enough to get us started again, then “The Hula Girl” will be sitting pretty.” The captain patted the console and turned around to face her hostage who was currently staring blankly at the floor, “Helen’s in the storage hold checking what we got, after she’s done going through “The Mockingbird’s loot I’ll have a better idea of what the score’s going to be, and how soon we can get you out of here.”

Jemma remained silent, her eyes trained blankly at the ground, Skye gave a reassuring smile, “Hey, I know this is scary but it was necessary to escape, I hope you know that. I’m going to get you home safely. Hurting or even taking hostages isn’t apart of my philosophy.”

“Pirates have ‘Philosophy’?” Jemma asked coldly, still not looking the captain in the eye.

“Well, it’s generally just ‘fuck the system’ but we all have our own set of rules. This isn’t an ocean, Dr. Simmons, this is space, the void, and no one owns it, no one owns us but ourselves.”

“That’s pretty talk coming from a pirate.”

Skye actually smirked, caught off guard by the Dr’s tone. “And that’s brave talk coming from the hostage of said pirate.” She stated matter-of-factly. 

Jemma balled her hands up into fists at her side, now looking straight at her captor, “What are you going to do about it? Are you going to shoot me? With your bullet-less gun? You don’t even have a crew!”

“Uh, Helen.” Skye reminded her. 

“Oh that’s just wonderful! I shouldn’t even be here! I should be back doing my job on a safe ship! With nice civilized people! All I had to do was kick you in the shin and I would’ve been free! Screw you and your non-existent pirating career, I want to go home!” She yelled backing away through the door while the captain watched with a raised eye brow, but before she completely left the bridge she stepped back through angrily for one last point, “And this place? Is filthy!” She left down the ship’s one main hallway.

Skye called after her, “That’s a way to be ungrateful! I could be a lot worse, you know! Worst hostage ever!” She sighed and leaned back on the console.


	4. "The Avenger"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jemma gets to meet Helen Cho and gets more accustomed to life on "The Hula Girl"

The door of the hold opened once again and Jemma glared up from her seat in the corner, however, instead of the captain standing the doorway, a looking android walked in, holding a tray. She smiled down at the hostage, “Hello, I am Helen Cho, I’ve brought you some food, I though you might need it after this ordeal.”

She knelt down and Jemma took the tray, she was actually very hungry and very thirsty but she wasn’t going to be caught dead going to the captain for those necessities. 

Helen Cho was a rather small android with beautifully crafted skin and face, she wore a full white dress uniform that made her look like a scientist. She held her hands in front of her and waited for Jemma to take a bite of the soup that was on her tray. Jemma closed her eyes as she tasted it, it was very good. 

Helen gestured to the place next to her, “May I sit?” Jemma was slightly taken aback but she nodded quickly before scooping another spoonful into her mouth. The android sat calmly next to her and smiled. 

“We do not usually have visitors here.” She stated plainly, “Despite the unfortunate circumstances, I am glad you are here. I expected to find you in the Captain’s quarters.” She tilted her head questionaly, 

Jemma cleared her throat and took a sip of the water with her meal, “It felt wrong being in there.” She grimaced, “I’d rather just wait this thing out, being in her room just feels.. I don’t know..” She shuddered and took another bite.

Helen nodded, “Yes, you do not get along with the captain. That is understandable, however, the bedroom will be better suited to your human needs.”

Jemma sighed but gave in, “Okay, I suppose I’d have to go in there eventually, it’s the only bathroom on this bloody ship.”

“That is accurate.” Helen agreed happily, 

They were silent for a few minutes, while Jemma ate and Helen kept her company, her processors whirring rhythmically, speeding up every time Jemma shifted or moved. Eventually though, Jemma felt the need to point something out, she felt comfortable around the android, who was calm and sweet and most importantly not the person who shoved her into this awful situation. 

“You know you don’t have to stay with her, right? There are laws against keeping androids against their will these days, and that applies to nearly 6 galaxies.”

Helen chuckled kindheartedly, “That is very sweet of you, but I am not here against my will, you see I've known the Captain since we were very young and she is a dear friend, and there’s no place I would rather be. Nothing I would rather do.”

“But this is such a hard life, what on earth is keeping you..” Jemma gestured to the the ship, “Here? I’m sorry but I don’t understand.”

“That is okay,” Helen explained calmly, “You see there is nothing so near to heaven as exploring the wonders of the universe with the one that you love the most in all of creation. I am a rather old model but I was never built to serve. To serve and protect is what chose to do, and I do it with whom I love the most. Our modest living may seem unorthodox, but to me it is the greatest possible outcome of a long and difficult road.”

Jemma was slightly enthralled with the androids calm voice and the way she explained it, but she still didn’t quite understand, “W-who--?”

“She’s talking about me, Dr. Simmons.” Jemma jumped as the harsh voice crackled through the intercom around them. Helen smiled and patted the floor of the hold. The AI sounded irritated, “My wife is the most typical of romantics, Dr., but she is right, so stop insinuating that she’s being held here against her will like you are, I won’t have talk like that in here. I have a lot more power than you think, human.”

Helen laughed at Jemma’s shocked face, “There she is, my wife, Alecta, she’s held this place together for many, many years.”

“You’re wife? I thought Artificial intelligence marriage was illegal in all sectors?”

Helen laughed, as if such a question was ridiculous, “We just stole an entire cargo full of valuable items to be given to the O-Nah government as a sign of peace, and we took you hostage, legality does not matter to us. Additionally, our union was bound long before politics decided it was worth judging.”

She paused and patted Jemma’s arm, “Do not worry, leaving civilians unharmed is something the captain holds very highly, it was her mother’s only rule, to leave the innocent unharmed. You will be home soon. Please, come into a more comfortable environment.”  
.  
.  
.

“Captain, we just intercepted an interesting transmission.”, A blond man entered a lavish room off to the side of a massive control center. He was, second in command of one of the most notorious pirates ever to plague the void, a disheveled looking man with short blonde hair and blue eyes. Clint Barton was an unsuspecting ally in the world of pirates.

The Captain glanced up calmly from her personalized station, barely interested in what her second in command was saying. Captain Natasha Romanov, also know as “The Black Widow” was nearly as unassuming as her second, beautiful and elegantly put together, she had the look of a model more than that of a pirate but she stalked the universe unrelentingly and gained the fear of some of the largest and most powerful governments in space.

“What is it, Barton?” He handed her a sleek hand held device and she promptly watched the hologram that it emitted a second later, her disinterest faded and she cocked an eye brow at the hologram of Captain Morse describing a rather profitable situation. 

When the transmission ended she leaned back with a confident smile, “So Skye bit off more than she could chew this time. What’s so important about this woman that she would be worth so much alive to Morse?”

“She was a temporary ambassador, apparently taking something of value to the O’Nah government.” Barton informed her immediately,

The captain waved her hand dismissively, “Ambassadors go missing all the time out here and the items weren’t stolen, I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“Well,” Rogers offered, “Morse has gotten a lot of friends in high places since she left the pirating world, if I didn’t know better I’d say this was personal. She’s never lost a passenger before, this messes up her perfect record. Also, Morse seems desperate to keep this out of the media. She wants to stay under the radar.”

“I think that’s it, whatever the reason, she is willing to pay more than some pirates make their whole lives, for this Dr. Jemma Simmons to be returned alive.” Natasha smiled wickedly, “I think it’s time for us to pay our young friend a visit. Morse wants this as a favor, the money would be nice but I'm not going out of my way for Morse's reputation since she left us.”

“The Hula Girl's” technology is extremely inferior to ours and she has a skeleton crew, taking the woman shouldn’t be a problem.”

The captain tutted him with a hand held up, “Don’t get too confident, Barton, and don’t underestimate Skye, she’s resourceful and we don’t know what she’s capable of if she’s backed into a corner. I’d like to do this without causing a fuss. Set the coordinates.”

Barton saluted, “Yes, Captain.”  
.  
.  
.

Jemma had to admit, it was a comfy bed and in better circumstances, she probably would have fallen asleep immediately on the worn and soft bed, underneath the flexible blankets. However, she didn’t sleep at all throughout the night and she spent most of the time staring at the wall wondering what her family was doing, what Fitz was doing. Did they know what happened yet? She hoped they didn’t. 

The ship was also anything but quiet, she could literally hear the vessel ripping through space, the beeps, the creeks, and the random bangs within the walls made her jump constantly. Helen had dropped her off in the room and neglected to warn her of the sounds that one could hear in the walls and under her body. 

Her mind flew several times to the Captain, and a mixture of dislike and awe filled her every time. Perhaps she was being to hard on the woman, in reality, she could have been much worse. Skye was right about that. In fact, she didn't even act like a captor, so far she had been nothin but certeous and friendly, but she robbed a class five transport vessel with two people, she was obviously easy to underestimate. 

But no. She’s still the reason that the was in this terrifying position. Jemma reminded herself, the bitterness making her feel better about the situation. Still. It could be worse.

Jemma didn’t jump when the doors slid open, she heard the footsteps coming to the door, those heavy boots. She remained on her side underneath the covers with her hand stiffly wedged between her head and the pillow. Out of the corner of her eye she could make out the captain’s figure. 

“Good morning. Thought I’d fix the shower real quick.” Then the footsteps moved around the bed and into the bathroom. Jemma didn’t answer but Skye didn’t seem like she expected an answer. 

Jemma’s eyes remained glued to the wall while her mind raced. Several clanking noises came from where the captain was working, some glug glug sounds and a few slapping sounds filled the room. As was mentioned before, there was no sound control in this ship. 

Jemma sighed and sat up in bed, she was still wearing the exact same thing as what she was captured in, Helen had shown her some sleeping garments, she smiled and took them but then set them down on the floor next to the bed once the kind android was gone. 

She swung her legs over the bed and walked to the bathroom, perhaps it was lack of sleep but she felt empty inside and she didn’t want to care anymore. She sat on the edge of the sink next to where Skye was tinkering with the shower. She didn’t glance at the captain but continued to stare at the floor sadly. 

“Didn’t get much sleep last night?” Skye guessed from where she was trying to man handle a pipe from out of the wall. 

Jemma shook her head dully, “No.”

Skye didn’t say anything but continued to wrestle with the defunct shower. A few minutes passed while Jemma watched Skye working. Jemma, who had a degree in biomechanical engineering, already knew what needed to be done but she stayed silent and let the captain tinker with the shower device. 

“How long until we get there?”

“Uh, well, I’m still figuring that out but We’ll get to O-Nah in three days, if I can figure out a way to get you onto the planet without getting arrested then you’ll get to leave then. If that’s not possible then we’ll go to Tah-Woh (That's where all my black Market goods are going to be exchanged) and dock there, you can take a shuttle to O-Nah, and then you’ll be home free.” She grunted as she pulled something out of the wall. 

"Where in Tah-Woh is that?"

"Port of Et-Tah-D." Skye didn't hesitate to give her the information, 

"Eh-Tah-D?"

"Yeah, it literally means port of those beneath the ground. Nice place."

"Ah."

Several minutes later and Skye suddenly leapt up, “That’s it! It should work now!” Jemma’s eyes followed her as she moved around the bathroom. “Shower on.” She commanded. The shower head trickled at first but then burst to life a second later and Skye raised her arms in triumph. 

She looked over and saw that Jemma still had that same blank stare, she sighed, guilt had made it nearly impossible for her to sleep the night before as well. “Hey, why don’t you take a shower and then join me at the bridge for some breakfast?”

Jemma nodded silently, “That’s the spirit, this’ll all be over with soon. I promise.” 

Then she grabbed her toolbox and left Jemma sitting on the edge of the sink alone. For once she actually listened to the captain and took a shower. It felt amazing and by the end of it she felt more ready to handle what was happening. When she got out she searched the drawers in the room like Helen had told her too and she got dressed. 

She had picked out one of the nicer things in the captain’s drawers which was a blue jumpsuit uniform, probably for working in the tunnels. She tied the top around her waist and put a white T-shirt underneath it. It was practical and comfortable. 

At least she didn’t have to worry about getting lost on this ship, she though as she left the room and headed for the bridge. She found the captain sitting at a console, messing with some flickering hologram, when Jemma entered she turned it off and gesture to the plate of breakfast food by another console. 

Jemma sat down and took a bite, as was last time, it was very good and she was pretty hungry. The monitors and the consoles beeped through out the silence between them, until Skye turned towards her hand outstretched. 

“Here, I dug out your ring and necklace from the loot, figured it was the least I could do.” In her palm was the gold jewelry. 

Jemma took them and inspected them for a little bit, she looked up at the captain, “Thank you, these mean a lot to me.” She slipped on the ring and the necklace, then she laughed, “God, listen to me, I’m thanking a pirate for giving me back something they stole from me in the first place.”

Skye laughed and leaned back in her chair with a wink, “See, it’s a slippery slope, Dr. Simmons, next think you know you’ll be robbing a cargo ship.”


	5. Crash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Black Widow catches up with "The Hula girl" a day before they're about to reach the planet and the crew is forced to make some drastic decisions.

“Really? I’m never going to be able to find anything in here anymore.” The Captain glanced around the newly cleaned command center. Jemma had cleaned not only the surfaces but also every nook and crany that could be cleaned. 

Three days. Three days on the tiny, noismaking, death trap of a ship that was “The hula Girl”, Jemma spent three days, biding her time and only mopeing sometimes. She spent a lot of time with Helen, talking and cleaning the command center. The other half of the time she was holding a tool box for the Captain while she attempted without luck to keep the ship in working order, it was her own version of revenge to watch her struggle. 

They were so close O-Nah, only one more night until they were close enough to see if they could dock and then she would be free of this whole situation and never have to come back to space ever again. 

“Really? I’m never going to be able to find anything in here anymore.” The Captain glanced around the newly cleaned command center. Jemma had cleaned not only the surfaces but also every nook and crany that could be cleaned. 

“Please, it’s organized now and that stink is gone.” Jemma stood next to one of the consoles on the right side, crossing her arms. 

Skye sniffed the air, “Fair enough.” Then she sat down at the main console and flipped a few switches. Jemma examined her closely, something was off about the way the captain looked today. 

“Did you do your hair today?” Jemma asked, coming closer to the captain’s mane of long brown lochs, 

The captain twisted a peice of her hair between her finger tips and smiled, “Yes I did, you like it?” She wiggled her eyebrows at Jemma, who huffed and backed away obstinatly. 

“It looks nice, is all I’m saying and it doesn’t have greese in it so that’s certainly a plus.”

Skye chuckled, “Aw, that’s the sweetest thing you’ve said to me since you’ve got here, I feel all warm and tingly inside.”

Jemma rolled her eyes. Their quipping was cut off by Alecta’s voice crackling through the intercom, “Ship approaching at maximum speed.” 

Helen entered the room soon after; she seemed nervous. 

“A ship?” Skye looked around confused, “There shouldn’t be any ships out here, do we know it? Put it on screen.” She hit a few buttons and turned a few knobs. 

“Yes. It’s “The Avenger””

The blood drained out of Skye’s face and she fell over onto her hands, “Oh no.. Shit!” She cursed and kicked the wall, running her hands through her hair in distress. 

“The “Avenger”? What is that?” Jemma moved forward to try to see something but none of the screens held an explanation. Skye didn’t answer and instead continued to freak out, moving around the cabin and pulling things out of the walls. 

“What is going on?!” Jemma tried again, this time Helen put a hand on her arm and was about to say something when Alecta broke through again and they all jumped. 

“Video transmission requested, Captain.” Skye said another string of curse words and kicked a few more pieces of the ship. She stopped suddenly and sat back down, breathing out forcefully. 

She glanced behind her, “Dr. Simmons, do you mind going outside the door? I don’t want anyone seeing you.”

“Who would see me? Who is that, are they from the government?” Jemma pleaded, hope beginning to bubble up in her chest. 

“These guys are definitely not from any government, they’re pirates.”

“Oh.,” Jemma sighed, and then she edged her way out, Helen giving her a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder as she left the room.

“Put them through, Alecta.” Skye plastered on a fake smile, and an image appeared on the middle screen, the Black Widow was sitting comfortably in her velvet captain’s chair, she smiled kindly through the screen but it still made Skye’s stomach churn. 

“Hey Sailor.” The Widow greeted, her name was well earned given that she despite her casual demeanor and tone Skye had the feeling that she was being viewed for eating.

Skye chuckled humourlessly, her discomfort evident in her demeanor. “Natasha, how are you doing?” She asked lamely. 

The Widow continued to smile and ignore the question, “I’m going to skip to the point here, I need your passenger.” She ordered, right off the bat. 

The Black Widow had more experience, not even counting her impressive armada, and if she were in the Ship that Skye commanded she would have been just as confident and just as terrifying as she was now. However one of the things that made her so deadly was that she never underestimated a target and despite her marally askew career, she treated those who interacted with her, with exactly the amount of respect they deserved. 

Skye’s eyes became focused. She held her ground. “I don’t have a passenger, Natasha and you can’t have my loot.”

The Black Widow sighed, a mixture of pity and disapointment in her features as she leaned closer to the screen. “Darling, I have state of the art scanners equiped on my ship,so despite your attempt to cloak I can see there are three people on board your little ship, one of those is an android. She won’t be harmed, I know that’s as important to you as it was to your mother.”

“Why would a hostage I picked up randomly during a raid matter to you?” Skye moved past the quick pang of embarresment from being caught red handed in a lie. Lying was what pirates did, Natasha probably expected the exact response she got, however, Skye knew she was better than that.

“A favor. For an old friend.”

“You don’t do favors, Widow.” Skye puffed her chest out, still holding her ground in the convernsation. 

The Widow smiled, seeming unperturbed about what was going on, she laughed, “You’re right, of course, it’s a paid favor, a very well paid favor.”

“Since when have you been dealing with Morse? And why would she be making deals with the likes of us?”

“Skye, I'm doing this more as a favor to you than to Morse, the money is just a bonus. Let the girl go, Skye, she's more trouble than she's worth and you know as well as I do that Morse is ruthless.” Natasha explained calmly, her motherly tone was putting Skye on edge. 

Skye knew that Natasha didn’t want to kill her, for her own safety, so knowing how the Widow worked, Skye would guess that the options were flexible depending whether or not she complied with what the Black Widow wanted. Before she could react, Natasha continued. 

“I only want the girl, Skye, you can keep all the other spoils. We transport her over to my ship and you can go on your merry way.” Despite her friendly tone, her words dripped with venom. 

“The only reason Morse would ask you for something like this was if she wanted me killed and she couldn’t legally do it herself.”

“Yes, she did want you, your crew, and everything you stole but I’m not going to give her that, I’m just taking the girl and telling her to get over it.” 

The Black Widows patience knew no bounds but Skye’s was running very thin. She tapped on the side of the console a few times, seemingly thinking over the options. Behind her, Helen was silently gearing the ship up for a an escape. Rerouting auxillary power to the engine and holding the final command to switch the power. 

“I can’t give her to you, Widow, her ransom will be even bigger than the reward your getting, I need her for leverage.”

“Skye, hand over Dr. Simmons.” The Black Widow ordered again, obviously giving Skye a second chance to reconsider. She was kind like that.”

“No.” Skye stated, officially locking in her decision. 

Natasha sighed, and sat back in her chair, “I don’t want to have to do this, Skye, I respect you, and your mother.. But I do respect a woman who holds her ground, I’ll give you that. Good Luck.” Skye never doubted for a second that the Widow meant exactly what she said. 

Skye nodded, a quick motion of acceptance before she looked up and smirked, “ Good thing I don’t need luck.” She ended the video and the screen went black. “Now Helen!”

The ship roared to life as the lights went out. “They're preparing to fire, Captain!”

Skye locked her seat, “Switch controls to manual. We used the last of our resources taking the Mockingbird, fighting the Avenger would be a death sentence for "The Hula Girl.”

“Running will be a death sentence as well, Captain.” The ship rocked harshly, causing anything that was not strapped down to be thrown violently. Helen wavered slightly, her titanium legs keeping her perfectly balenced. “Hit to starboard bowe, Captain, she’s trying to incapacitate us so that she can board.”

They were moving at beyond maximum speed, pushing the ship to her limits and still The Avenger was on her tail. Skye’s eyes were focused on the navigation panel as she moved through obstacles and attempted to dodge the missiles that the Avenger was firing at them. 

The door slip open and Jemma fell through as another peice of the ship was hit, just barely missing vital engine parts. “What on earth is happening?” Jemma all but screamed as she tumbled to the floor, bracing herself on the edge of one of the right consoles so she wouldn’t slip underneath. 

Skye grunted as she turned the ship sharply away from a near hit, “We’re being attacked by a ship that’s better than us in every way.” Skye said matter-of-factly.

Alecta began spouting off everything that was going wrong with the ship as parts fell off and certain junction boxes sparked on fire. “Bloody Hell..” Jemma struggled her way next to the captain, studying the navigation screen from over her shoulder. 

Skye didn’t even seem to see her, “Helen, could you work on that?” She was refering to the fire starting in one of the back junctions. The android immedietly began to put fires out.

“Yeah it’s not good, you might wanna strap yourself in.”

Jemma ignored her request and continued staring over her shoulder, the ship sounded like it was being torn apart and the sounds of ripping metal was horribly apparent within the cabin of “The Hula Girl”. 

Jemma pointed to something on the screen, “There! That planet with the four moons, we can use the gravity pull and hide in the planet’s atmosphere. It’s an old trick but it might work.”

Skye’s eyes got wide and she looked up at Jemma, “What? How could you know that?”

“Never mind that just go!” 

Skye snapped her head back and headed in the direction of the unknown planet. Her face was scrunched up in concentration as she held on tightly to the controls. 

“How is that going to help us if they just follow us in and kill us there?”

The Ship rocked wildly as they almost got hit again and another peice of the outer panels flew off into space and Jemma grabbed Skye’s shoulder for support.

“We can curve around and hide, it should confuse their sensors, here--” Jemma led Skye out of the chair and slipped in her place, grabbing on to the controls and setting her shoulders while the captain stumbled back, her mouth agape in shock.

“Uh!”

Jemma ignored her, her mouth was trembling but her eyes darted back and forth on the screen dodging and missing the Avenger’s attacks. Her fingers moved quickly through the controls, behind her Skye had her arms up in an apparently paused gesture of “What the fuck?”. 

Skye glanced behind her at Helen, the android shrugged, “She is correct.” 

Skye was about to complain again but one of the Avenger’s attcks hit the ship, causing it to veer to the left violently. 

Jemma cried out but kept her hands firmly on the controls, not letting even the crackle of ship destract her from her mission. Skye fell to the side with the impact and was caught by Helen whose perfectly balenced frame barely wavered with the force of the impact. 

“The cargo hold is on fire, it needs to be put out.” Jemma stated and Helen immedietly nodded with a quick, “I will put it out.” 

Skye put her palm on the edge back of the chair, she obviously had questions but she would ask them if they made it out of this alive. She kept looking over at Jemma’s focused face, a ball of sweat fell down her temple and she kept licking her lips as her entire body shook. 

“They’re not trying to destroy us, only incapacitate us.” Jemma mumbled to herself, 

“Uh, Dr.Simmons...”

“I see it!”

“Yes and!?” Skye’s knuckles went white as she grasped tightly to the back of the chair, watching a torpedo move ever closer to their ship. It was moving too fast to out run, if it hit the ship point blank, there would be no other option but to let "The Avenger" take them.

There was nothing she could do but cringe and squeeze her eyes shut just as the torpedo was set to hit the ship. She felt them turn sharply, making her stumble to the side, the door opened and Helen rushed in just as an explosion to the side of the ship sent them all tumbling to the opposite side. 

Skye caught Jemma just barely before she hit the metal floor. “Hold on!” Jemma cried as she stood back up and sat down at the console. They were about to reach the planet’s atmosphere and they were spiraling down at a incomprehensible speed. 

The next few seconds seemed to be in slow motion as they hit the atmostphere with a jolt and began to drop. Helen pushed Skye down next to Jemma and proceeded to cover them both as panels and peices of the wall fell around them. Hot metal hit the side of Helens face but it only left a small burn mark and the android didn’t even flinch. 

Skye was guessing it would only be another minute or so before they crashed head long into the planet’s surface. She took a deep breath and in the last few second’s she glanced up at her hostage, the woman’s eyes moved through the monitors which were saying exactly what Skye knew, that they were about to explode into nothingness. 

Even in those last few seconds, however, Skye couldn’t take her eyes off of the other woman’s face, she thought as they went down that perhaps in another life things could have been different. Those strange thoughts one has before they're about to die.

Jemma screamed without warning and violently pulled the controls, the ship’s helm moved upwards just as they were about to hit the surface. The ship zoomed rapidly through the landscape of the unknown planet, taking out trees, rocks, and even some animals as it crashed through, leaving peices of "The Hula Girl" behind. 

Inside, the small crew was bounced around the cabin like pinballs, luckily for Skye and Jemma’s frail human skeletons, Helen’s superior frame was taking most of the shock as she held onto the women with unrelenting strength. 

They seemed to be bouncing like that forever, but finally, the ride stopped and everyone fell where they were and didn’t move. Helen got up 30 seconds later and inspected the other women who were groaning weakly. Skye was holding her neck tenderly and Jemma had her arms wrapped completly around her own body. 

Helen’s scans didn’t find anything life threatenly, only a really bad case of whiplash and some shock but they were all alive. She tapped the captain’s arm, with nagging persistance. “Skye, we have crash landed on an unknown M class planet.”

Skye groaned, “ I was there when It happened, Helen.” She pulled herself up from the floor, reluctantly and limped to the now dead moniters. 

“However, it does appear that we lost “The Avenger.” 

The captain rubbed her head, “You know, now I’m thinking that Maybe the Black Widow wouldn’t have been that bad of a host.” Skye turned around, “Dr. Simmons? Are you alright.”

The hostage was just pulling herself off the floor, she glared at the captain in repsonse to her question and then leaned heavily on the wall, avoiding the sparking panels to her right. She lightly touched a raw part of her forhead where a small trickle of blood was falling beneath her hair. 

Skye turned around, still dazed from the crash. She pulled open a bent panel and grabbed emergency medical supplies. She approuched the Doctor slowly. Jemma quickly glanced at her, a scowl still evident on her face but she pulled back her bangs allowing for the Captain to apply medicine and a bandaid to the small cut. 

“I know this isn’t going to help, but I’m really sorry about all this?” Skye whispered to Jemma as she straightened out her bandageing job delicatly. 

“There’s nothing we can do about it now, except get off this planet.”

Helen interjected, “Which will be a rather difficult task seeing as how the ship is completly broken, and we are stuck without communications.”

"Great." Skye said sarcastically.


	6. Ward: A bounty Hunter's introduction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The bounty for Skye's capture is beginning to circulate to questionable people and Skye and Jemma finally get a moment to react to the situation that they're in, also an update on Bobbie Morse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning, Ward is introduced in this chapter and he is a definite bad guy, if you really like ward this probably isn't the story for you, sorry.

“Sir, we've intercepted a new bounty letter. It's from Morse.” 

“Send it to me.”

The two men were communicating not through words but through their telepathic abilities. They sat on opposite sides of a room on their ship, separated into cubes with gold walls. They rode on one of the silver octagonal ships that were most common in the O-Nah controlled region of the universe, containing the three planets, O-Nah, Tah-Woh, and Tah-Reh. 

The captain, Ward, as he was often called in the void, had a chiseled face with an almost boyish charm, he moved his eyes brow as the information was sent to him. He read through the offer letter, a great amount of money was being offered in returning a certain Pirate back to “The Mockingbird” alive or dead, along with her captive, some doctor from Earth. 

Ward smiled, his teeth were sharp and his eyes seemed to glint at the prospect of a new job. 

“This woman must have done something very naughty to earn a reward this high. Lets get her.” His mouth never moved but his second in command nodded his head sharply and set new coordinates into the console of the ship. 

Ward glanced back at his console, “She outran the Avenger, this “Skye” must be a heavy hitter, not many can do that.”

“Think that’ll be a problem, sir?” His deck hand’s eyes twitched slightly. 

“No. But we can’t be as "efficient" this time since her hostage has to be brought in alive.” Ward made a grimace. “Speaking of, lets move out of “The Avenger’s flight path, I don’t want to run into them again.” His hand moved to a large scar down his neck as he relived the memory.”

“Yes, sir. Though, there are no reports of their coordinates.”

Ward waved his hand dismissively, “Then we wait, they’ll come crawling out of the wood work eventually. Cockroaches always do.”

“Yes. Sir.”

“Circle around until then, they won’t move too far from the planets, Skye needs to stay close to Tah-Woh, and I want to go down to Tah-Reh to check on our progress. Also, 796 has been getting on my nerves but if I kill him, I’m going to have to explain to the insurance company what happened and I don’t want to do that.”

The second in command, input the new coordinates. 

Ward then, suddenly, opened his mouth and yelled violently, “796!” His mouth seemed to have trouble getting around the words but that didn’t make then seem any less threatening. 

The door slid open and a young man, barely into his twenties, shuffled out, he was wearing a uniform like the rest of the crew but it was far too big for him, his head was shaved and he had scars littering the right side of his face. He didn’t look Ward in the eye as he approached. 

The captain sighed, and looked the young man up and down, “Do you think it’s okay for ship hands to lax on their jobs?” He asked venomously, 

The young man shook his head. Ward smacked the palm of his hand into the side of the chair, “Don’t lie to me!” He yelled, “If you truly believed that you wouldn’t have done such a shit job. Take that off and clean yourself up, you’ll be out of here soon enough. It’s back to the camps for you. I hope you’re proud of yourself. Now Get out of my face!”

The young man jumped at the captain’s raised voice but he nodded his head and turned and shuffled quickly out of the door. 

Ward sighed, he no longer spoke with his tongue but with his mind, “This time you get to choose, I think I’ve got too big a heart, I always feel bad for the weak ones.” He smiled, chuckling in his mind. 

The second in command laughed as well, “Be my pleasure, sir. But if I may say, sir, you’re going to have to be tougher on those Tu-Guus, otherwise they’ll keep walking all over you.”

“I know you’re right, I’m way too soft on them, but if they keep talking back to me I’m just going to have to stop being nice.” Ward shrugged, 

“I know it’s hard to, sometimes, but you’ve got to handle them, otherwise, next thing you know they’ll be pushing you around,..”

“You’re absolutely right, Old boy.” Ward conceded, “Now, hows that new wife of yours doing?”

The quiet conversation was shockingly domestic and their crude manner never dawned on them as they communicated through the cold silence of the ship, carrying one of the many heads of a cruel and corrupt empire.   
.  
.  
.

“Oh my...” Jemma breathed out slowly as she gazed outside of the broken ship and into the exspansive landscape of the unknown planet, “It’s beautiful..” She remained frozen next to Skye who mimicked her open mouthed expression of awe. 

They had come face to face with the rest of the forest that they had crash landed into and save for the strip of land that was bare after coming into contact with the bottom of “The hula Girl”, it was a sprawling paradise, untouched by humanoid life.

The jungle was thick and crawling with exotic looking creatures, red and blue, with snakes slithering away from the commotion with diamond shaped yellow designs on their backs. Behind the forest, which seemed to take up most of the planet, stood grand mountains like a spiky fence containing this oasis of life. 

Aside from the sounds of their ship falling apart behind them, the air was filled with unique noises coming from inside the jungle, and the air was fresh and clear. Clearer than anything Jemma had ever breathed, and she took it deep into her lungs. 

Skye was the first to blink out of their trance and turn back to the ship, she put a hand to the hull and patted the scratched metal apologetically. Jemma never took her eyes off the vision in front of them and she didn’t notice as Skye moved away, talking about repairs with Helen. 

A few minutes later Skye returned, “You okay?” Skye’s voice finally snapped her away from what she was looking at and she turned to face the captain, nearly running face first into her. Jemma shook her head and pushed her hair back out of her face. “Dr. Simmons?” Skye persisted. 

“Er yes, I am, I am okay, thank you.” 

“Your sure?” Skye turned her head, trying to get a better view of the Doctor, atemmpting to determine what the woman was thinking. 

Jemma shook herself again, not only because of the view but the shaking deep in her bones after the crash, “Yes, I’m just-- Just a little shaken? And a bit amazed, honestly-- I mean.. Look at this place!” She gestured to the landscape. 

Skye chuckled and her eyes moved along the land with Jemma’s hand, “Yeah, it’s pretty amazing.. There’s something about being completely Isolated. It's freeing.” 

She stood next to Jemma and watched the entirely new environment move around them, Helen was inside the ship, in sleep mode attempting to heal anything that had gone wrong and get a better idea of what was wrong with the ship. They had nothing to do but wait. 

As they watched, Skye’s eyes eventually moved from the jungle to Jemma’s face, by the time she realized what she was doing she cleared her throat and Jemma had looked at her, curiously. 

“You saved my life. Thank you.” Her voice cracked as she spoke and she cleared her throat again. 

“Well, it wasn’t just your life I was worried about, you don’t have to thank me.”

“It was though.” Skye turned to face Jemma. “I mean, the bounty is out on me, you and Helen would have been fine, but you... You took control anyway..” She laughed, her head falling back to look at the sky, “I am the worst captor ever!”

Jemma’s face was blank as Skye’s words sunk in, “You mean.. They were there to rescue me? Not to attack us?”

Skye shook her head, “I though you knew that.” Skye braced herself for Jemma to freak out, she didn’t even blame her but she still thought that she owed the woman the truth. 

But a freak out never came, instead Jemma plopped down on the edge of the ramp and began to laugh, her head falling into her hands as she laughed. At first Skye though that she was crying and a wave of guilt washed over her but after she realized that they weren’t tears but in fact, laughter, she crouched down next to her.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Simmons, I really am.”

Jemma laughed some more as Skye became more and more confused, however, Jemma wiped the tears away from her face and looked up at the Captain, “Oh, Don’t apologize, you’re really a terrible pirate, you know that?”

Skye plopped down next to Jemma, smiling “I guess I am,” She laughed for a moment, “But good pirate or not. I’m grateful, I want you to know that.”

“It was nothing. Really.” Jemma took a deep and slightly shaky breath, “Plus, it’s not like any of it matters now, anyway. We’re stuck on this planet, nothing can change that now.”

“So you’re not mad about not being rescued?”

Jemma paused for a few moments, thinking it over, “Well, as angry as I am at you for putting me in this situation..” She held her breath, “If I had to get stuck with some brutish pirate.. It might as well be you.” She finished quickly, looking away. 

Skye was having a difficult time keeping the grin from taking over her features, “You think I’m brutish?” She almost giggled out. 

Jemma rolled her eyes and then lightly pushed Skye’s arm and she rolled with it, still grinning, “I’m just thinking about the best case scenario here and, let’s face it, you’re not exactly the ‘rough and rugged outlaw’ we’re all warned about.”

Skye made a defiant “Uh!” sound, “I am totally rough and rugged, have you even seen my wardrobe? I’m a thuggish pirate. I’m ruthless.” She said, almost jokingly, 

“It’s really the actions that count, Captain.”

Skye rolled her eyes, “Fine, whatever, but when you’re about to be eaten by some two headed anaconda you’ll be wishing me and my ruthless nature were there to save you.”

“I would like to see that.” Jemma said, swinging her legs over the ramp. 

“You would?” Skye asked, watching the Dr.’s facial features closely, as she mimicked the leg swinging, she definitely saw a blush creeping up Jemma’s face as she asked.

“I-- Er, I mean, you know, it would be funny to watch you fighting a large two headed snake. That’s all... Especially without a bloody gun.” 

"You're still caught up on the whole gun thing aren't you?"

"Well, our imaginary snake won't fall for your bluff quite as easyily as the crew of "The Mockingbird".

“Hey, you’re the one who said I was brutish. I'm sure I could find a way.” Skye quipped, 

Jemma shook her head, holding back a small laugh, and standing up slowly, rubbing her sore arms and neck from the crash. She stretched and looked down at the captain, “We’ll just have to see, Captain, when such a time comes. I’m going to lay down, I assume we’re going to start putting the ship back together after Helen has conducted a scan of the ship’s systems?” She sounded like a proper Crew Member. 

She walked back to the opening of the ship and turned around. 

Skye nodded, looking more at the ground than at Jemma, “Yeah.. Get some rest, Dr.”  
Jemma didn’t respond but she paused in the doorway before turning back around to go back into the ship, then Skye stopped her before she could leave. “Hey, By the way, how in the world did you know how what to do today?”

Jemma sighed, “Before I came into space I prepared myself for nearly everything that could go wrong.” She paused, “Almost everything.” 

“You learned how to fly a ship and how to avoid detection?” Skye asked, skeptically. 

Jemma smiled, almost sadly, “I’m a very prepared person, Captain.” that's all she said as she turned to leave. 

“Call me Skye.”

Jemma paused, “Good night, Skye.”

.  
.  
.

"I promise you are safe. Please return to your quarters. Give any questions or concerns that you have to the crew and they will be happy to adress them. Please excuse-- I'm going to my cabin, lieutenant Rose!"

Captain Morse pushed herself into her cabin through the hords of passengers and crew alike who were demanding answers. It was just her luck that she had at least ten journalists on board. 

lieutenant Rose ran in just behind her, yelling at the computer to close the door and lock it. She was a young woman, just placed in this position out of the academy, Morse almost felt bad for her, having to deal with this shit along with the Captain. 

Rose laid back on to the wall and took a deep breath, Morse didn't stop for a minute as she went straight for her computer, turning it on and snapping in the air for Rose to give her the details, they didn't have time to dally. 

"We have sent out the bounty, Captain, and we are currently feilding transmissions from the O-Nah government administration asking for details on their package--"

"Anyone respond?"

"Confirmation came from the "Silver Tongue", Captain."

Morse sighed in frustration, "God, I was hoping we could avoid working with that bastard, but I guess if he can do it.. Anything else?"

"Yes sir, the emperor of O-Nah wants to talk to you, as does the security officer and the head of public relations, the one press organization and also the parents of Dr. Simmons has requested time with you." Rose listed off the information, clearly and orderly. 

Morse looked up in surprise at the last listed, she had expected all of the other beaurocrats but she had never agreed to release the information to the Milky way counsel. "How the hell do they know this information?" Morse demanded.

"Uh--" Rose stuttered and glanced through her handheld device, "I don't know, Captain, they just cntacted us out of the blue. I can request they stop communications until this is all over." She seemed nervous as if she was afraid that she had done something wrong. 

Morse groaned but quickly shook her head, "No. No. Put them through first, they deserve to know what's going on." She really didn't want to this but she believed in what she had said, "Patch me through." 

"Yes Captain." 

She hit a few buttons and a second later a small hologram popped up on Morse's desk, containing three people, Morse assumed they were Dr. Simmon's parents, especially since the woman staring at her in the middle looked like an older version of Simmons. Next to them a younger man, around Simmon's age sat, looking just as scared as her parents. 

She explained the situation as delicatly as she could, trying to be as professional and understanding as possible, when she was finished and the hologram flicked off, she laid her head on the desk and sighed. 

She looked up at Rose's curious face, "It used to be easier you know, I thought I was getting a second chance but I swear being a criminal was never this hard, never this tiring.." She trailed off. 

She chuckled, apparently forgetting that her second in command was still standing there staring at her, "Widow said I was being stupid when I took this opportunity, said that I would turn back sooner or later.. But I thought life was only black and white, a reckless pirate just searching for chaos and adventure but I was to scared to go through with it.." 

"What do you want me to do about these other meeting requests, Captain?" Rose seemed understandibly uncomfortable. 

"Tell them to fuck off, I'll deal with them when we land. You know--" She waved a hand, "Nicer than that but make sure they get the point"

Rose nodded, "Yes, Captain, Also the doctor is requesting that you sleep or come down to the infirmary to get a sleep aid, she says that you've been up for 42 hours, if you push yourself any more it could affect your decision making and she may have to step in."

Morse laughed, "Yeah, I bet. Tell her I'm going to bed right now."

"I will, Captain. Sleep tight, Captain."

The captain nodded without a word as the lieutenant left the room, she glanced at her bed an then back to her desk. She sent out a small letter asking the Widow if she had been able to capture Skye, then she sat staring at the blank inbox for a lot longer than she should have done. 

"Jesus Christ, Bobbie, what the hell are you doing here?" She mumbled to herself as the room darkened around her.


	7. May's Daughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Black Widow reports back to Morse and Skye and Jemma have a conversation about family.

Simmon’s personal log Entry One:  
This seems rather redundant of me, given the circumstances at the moment. However, Helen gave me this personal log book and she recommended that I record my thoughts and feelings within, she said that it would be a healthy choice for my emotional well being. I though, why not, what else am I going to do when I’m not working with the captain--With Skye-- on repairing the ship. This place is-- well it’s just magnificent, I do not think words would ever be able to touch the natural beauty of this strange place. The atmosphere is clean and mild, it’s so easy to breath and for a moment, when one is holding this untouched air within their lungs; everything is perfect. And the sunset’s and sunrises on this place is like nothing I’ve ever seen before, nothing like I’ve ever read of before, most nights so far (we’ve been here exactly a week) I go out on the roof of the ship to watch the sunset... Sometimes Skye joins me.. I-- I like her company. She doesn’t talk very much when we’re watching the sun go down, and her presence is... enjoyable next to me, although sometimes I find myself more distracted by her watching the sunset instead of the actual event. I’ve-- I’ve probably said to much, so, anyway, repairs are underway, and Helen along with Alecta estimates we’ll be finished within in at least two months. Two weeks ago I would have been devastated by that news but now.. Well, I suppose I could spend two months on this planet... They truly treat me like an equal here while I’m working, I guess that degree in bio-mechanical engineering really did come in handy and it’s fun to see Skye’s shocked face every time I fix entire pieces of the engine by myself.. She’s has the cutest impressed face.. Anyway, I will try to update as much as possible.   
Simmon’s out

 

On board The Mockingbird, Captain Morse stood over a map of the neighboring galaxies. She had just dropped the passengers off onto O-Nah, and after a long and grueling affair with O-Nah’s intergalactic security force, where they interviewed every passenger and every member of her crew, finishing with a long interrogation of the Captain herself, in tones she very much did not appreciate. 

They were obviously more concerned with the loss of money in this situation and the possible effects on O-Nah’s relationship with the Milky Way Alliance rather than on Dr. Jemma Simmons, an attitude that made Morse boiling mad. In addition, they had been extremely worried about Dr. Simmons, until the cargo she brought aboard was found, then they were just “Pleased that Dr. Simmons had performed her task bravely and even in the face of death had understood the lasting effects on diplomacy that her items carried.”

It wasn’t long after they found the books that the interviews with the passengers and crew became less concerned with the Dr. and more concerned with the possibility of insurance fraud. However, they never found anything concrete about the encounter with the pirates, everyone seemed to have a different story about what they were doing and how many pirates were on board. They had numbers ranging from ten pirates to “ I think there must have been hundreds!” 

The security force, when they were finished with their investigation, had given Captain Morse a speech on proper safety practices in deep space and the importance of every life traveling on their company. It had taken everything she had not to puke on them. 

The minute they left she had dropped every appointment she had and began to focus entirely on finding this “Skye” and more importantly, Jemma Simmons. She had given her inexperienced crew a surprise shore leave, chalking it up to a traumatic journey and she had called in a few of her old colleagues from the planet’s surface. 

“The Avenger has reported in, captain. She says they lost them, Captain.”

Morse didn’t even look up from her small holographic map of this galaxy, her mind racing a million miles an hour, as she thought about the implications of The Black Widow losing a small ship such as the one that Skye captained. 

“She has given the coordinates, Captain.”

“Plug ‘em in.” A piece of the map was highlighted in red, it wasn’t a very specific area, in fact it covered and entire quarter of the galaxy they were searching. Captain Morse’s brow furrowed in frustration, finally she straightened up and walked to where the communication’s officer was mulling about. 

“Let me in.” The captain, scooted the younger officer away and pressed a button on her helm, then she spoke into the air. “I’m disappointed Natasha.”

The screen then came to life and the Black Widow was in sitting in her chair, looking at the captain. She laughed and sat back, bouncing her leg excitedly. “That hurts, Bobbie.” She quipped un-seriously. 

“Why are you protecting them, Widow?” 

“Because I’m impressed, and there was no way that I was bringing them in alive with the fuss that they put up. I’ve got better things to do than toying with your political dreams, I tried to reason with her-- for you, mind you-- and it didn’t work. So now, I’m content to go about my life. Also she's May's daughter..” The Widow added more quietly. 

The blood drained from Morse's face and she lowered her head, repeating the Widow's words- "She's May's daughter.. You mean to tell me I got robbed by the Calvary's daughter?"

"Her only child" Romanov confirmed. 

Morse took a deep breath, "This changes nothing, Widow."

"Oh really?" The redhead asked incredulously

Morse snickered “You’re not the same Widow I used to know, what is this? Compassion or fear?”

“And you’re not the pirate I used to know!” Romanov snapped venomously, causing the captain to move back slightly in surprise. 

The captain looked down and away from the Widow’s prying eyes, “You’re too caught up on sides, Natasha.”

“Maybe, but good luck finding the good Dr., Morse. Widow out.” 

Morse glared at the now black screen, her past had just come back to bite her in the ass just as she had feared. “Pirates.” She mumbled angrily to herself.   
.  
.  
.

“The kitchen is still broken, so I hope you’re okay with MRE’s again tonight.” Skye moved through the cabin where Jemma was sitting at a console. She tossed two dull gray bars towards the other woman and then plopped down in the other chair. 

Skye sighed, “Helen’s lucky she doesn’t have to eat.” She said, before tearing a corner off the aluminum wrapping and tossing it in the disposal, a feature that Jemma herself had put in within the last week. She took a bite of the crunchy tasteless bar and grimaced slightly. 

“At least they’re nutritious.” Jemma said, smiling over at the captain as she swallowed the bland bar forcefully. 

Skye chuckled, “Yeah, keep telling yourself that, when I get out of here I’m think I’m going to Jupiter... They have this high rise restaurant that is--- just trust me, it’s amazing, and you get piles of food. Best place in the milky way. Around here--” She made a circular motion with her finger “They eat a lot of dried food, dried meat, dried fruit, dried vegetables.. I don’t know about you but I want something greasy.”

“Hhmm..” Jemma thought for a moment, “When I get out of here.. I would love to have a Caesar salad-- Mmm..” she closed her eyes, “There’s a place three blocks from my house that has the best Caesar salads.. and when I want to cheat they also have a huge selection of organic treats.”

“Caesar salad? Really?”

Jemma nibbled on her MRE, “What?”

“After this whole--” She made an explosion motion with her hand-- “Debacle, and you could have ANY food in the universe and you choose the salad from down the street?” She asked skeptically. 

“Well-” Jemma began, “There’s something about the comfort of home isn’t there? I mean, don’t you miss the food around your childhood home?”

Skye leaned forward, “Nah, there was no “one” place when I was growing up.”

“That must have been difficult for a child”

“Actually I loved it.” Skye smiled, thinking back to her childhood, “My mom used to take me to the craziest places to eat, every week it was some new area." The captain's eyes unfocused and her hands began to move excitedly with every word. the memories seemingly filling her with a new found passion,

"In fact, when i was.. When I was 8 she took me to this Iida-Aile place, it was called.. I don’t know some weird collection of beeps, but they only served this thing called a DanGa squid. It’s like this weird puffy thing that you eat while it’s still moving."

Skye laughed, "My dad threw up, but I gotta say it was really good. It made your mouth tingle, and it was like a sour, bitter, salty mix of flavors. Finding places like that isn’t easy( at least where you won't get shot) but my mom could scope them out blindfolded.”

Jemma laughed, “Honestly? That sounds terrible!”

“My dad thought so too.” Skye took another bite out of her bland food and grinned while she was eating. 

“So your mother and father.. They were..?”

“Pirates? Yeah.. Well--” Skye started again, “My mom was the pirate, one of the greatest to ever travel the void but my dad? He sort of got caught up in the whole thing and never left, he was actually a security officer working for Shield, taking priceless artifacts back and forth from Pluto to Sida--”

“Sida? Where’s that at?” Jemma interrupted, 

“It’s close to O-Nah, like a small moon that houses important artifacts and where they take in unidentified objects and learn from them and stuff.”

“Okay, thank you, sorry.”

Skye waved a hand to let her know that it was okay, “It’s fine, anyway, at some point he was sent to investigate what was happening somewhere along the route, a bunch of their ships had disappeared, along with some very powerful items. That’s when he met my mom, on “The Calvary”.”

“Did she take him hostage?” Jemma’s chin was resting in the palms of her hand as she listened to Skye’s story. 

“Well, he actually tried to take on the Calvary.. Aaand it didn’t go so well.” Skye laughed, “They thought they were so big and powerful, my mom took them out with one hit, my dad didn't know what hit him, then next thing he knew the love of his life was behind him with a wrench."

Jemma put a hand over her mouth and laughed, “What?”

“Yeah, my mom found a way to transport unnoticed and she popped up behind him and knocked him out with a wrench she found on her way. My dad says he woke up with a massive headache, with his ego taken down a hundred notches. Anyway, he was stuck with them and I guess they fell in love, my dad had always felt that he couldn’t do any good for the universe in his position in shield and my mom, well, she did a lot of good.”

“What like a steal from the rich to give to the poor sort of thing?”

“Yeah, like Robin Hood, except my mom was like a billion times more brutal and she toppled governments and moved some really powerful weapons around. My mom ruled the void with an iron fist, and my dad was right next to her, advising her and taking care of me.”

There was a quiet moment as Skye looked at the ground, lost in thought, Jemma broke the silence, “You seem very proud of them.”

“I am. I really am..” Skye almost mumbled, 

“When did they die?” Jemma asked tentatively, 

Skye’s head shot up and she laughed, “Oh, they’re not dead, I’m sorry if I made it seem that way. No, They’re fine! They’re retired.”

“Oh, I’m relived, I just thought--”

“No, it’s fine I was spacing out--” She laughed awkwardly, “They’re retired, on some planet that my mom bought, probably spending the days bickering about current events.”

“Sounds like a strong marriage.” Jemma said laughing,

“It is..”

“So is this your mom’s ship?” Jemma asked, breaking the ice again. 

Skye smiled and patted the metal dashboard fondly, “This old thing--”

“Wait until you’re in the last years of your limited lifespan; I’m going to say the same thing about you while I get my imortal ass refurnashed.” Jeannie cut in harshly through the fuzzy intercom.

The two women jumped at the sudden interruption, just as they were beginning to feel like they were alone. Skye groaned but started again, “I Bought her after I looted my first ship, a few years ago.” She continued, ignoring the touchy AI. 

“And how did that go?”

Skye chuckled, “It’s a long story and basically the moral is, even if you don’t get caught by the law, you will get caught by your dad when he find’s a scratch on his super expensive modified personal transport.” She shook her head, almost talking to the ceiling which made Jemma laugh, “Oh, Lola, the times we had sneaking out.. All the girls we snuck away with..”

“You didn’t.”

“You bet your ass I did, had my first kiss in that ship, my first heartbreak, lost my -- Well, you know, Lola was my ticket to freedom when I was a teen.”

“It sounds like you were quite the trouble maker, I mean, not that that’s not surprising--” Jemma said, glancing around the cabin, “But still.”

“What do you expect? I was a teenager, my mom understood, but my dad?” She laughed, “Not so much. And what were you doing in your teen years?”

“I was studying, thank you very much.”

“Uh-huh.” Skye said skeptically, 

“I was!” 

"I don't believe that for a secon." The captain urged 

"I LIKE following the rules and doing what's expected of me, it makes me feel nice."

Skye was leaning forward slightly in her chair, staring at the other woman skeptically, "everyone has a dark side." She said blatently, 

Jemma leaned forward to face the captain very closely with a mischeivious smirk on her face that was unlike anything Skye had ever seen on her usually so pensive face, "No one, myself included, wants to see my bad side." She stated almost threateningly

Skye's features perked up, and Jemma stood up to leave with that statement, "Wait a second? What do you mean? What exactly have you done Dr. Simmons?"

"I told Helen I would help her in the hold, excuse me." Jemma rolled her eyes and walked out the door, leaving Skye hanging in her chair. 

Skey thought about it for a second, "What kind of hostage did I take?" She asked herself, concerned before she stood up to go and continue badgering her crew. And her hostage?


	8. Fault

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Morse continues to look for Skye and her lost passenger, Skye and Jemma are dealing with their own differences, also Ward goes to one of Skye's old contacts looking for clues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! From now on until the end of this story I'll be Posting a new chapter every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday :)

Simmons’ Personal Log Entry Six: 

“The rapairs on the ship have been going-- Well, we've hit a few snags. We don’t have the tools on hand at the moment to repair the engine and the warp core. Helen has gone out to see if she can find anything we can used; Any other crashed vessels or debre that might be useful. If any one can find what we need in the middle of this jungle I know it’s her. Although, Skye offered to go with her she declined, saying that “It would not be advisable to leave the hostage alone for extended periods of time”! What a ridiculous statement! And one I know she doens’t believe. I’ve been working so hard along with them to get this ship up and running so she knows Iwouldn’s leave them stranded.. Even if I could. It’s almost as is she’s been purposly finding excuses to leave Skye and I alone. I swear, I don’t understand what is going through that android’s mind sometimes. Oh well, she’s gone and I’ve been working to repair one of the conduit’s all morning. I think Skye has been working on fixing the “Kitchen” as she calls it, I keep telling her we have enough MREs to last for several months, so fixing the replicator isn’t a priority. She begs to differ. I-- Think I might go and see how her repairs are coming along...”  
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“They could have possibly hid on this M-class planet in sector 25614-09, the atmosphere can support human life but the atmosphere is thick so they could have shielded themselves from the Avenenger’s sensors in an emergency.” Captain Morse’s navigation officer, one luitenent Ruslana Stasuik 4'11 human with incredibly long hair, was currently pointing to a large hologram showing a series of planets within sector 25614-09. 

She had broght on ever body she deemed useful to help with finding Jemma Simmons.

One of Ruslana's teammates, another human who simply went by Mai, pulled up several more pages. “They wouldn’t last, that planet experiences violent storms year round which is why none of the dominions have claimed it for a colony.”

“Yeah also they have class five subterranian predators. It’s not a friendly place.” A Xran female that Morse didn't know pointed out.

Bobbie listened to her officers talking about the newly found planet as she circled the detailed hologram, her thumb and forfinger resting absently on her chin. She moved her hand out and twirled the planet around, analyzing its features and terrain. 

She held a hand up, silencing the officers, “This would be their best option.” She tapped on the planet, causing the hologram to wobble and bend, “Set coordinates to this planet.”

She started walking away when one of the officers stopped her in the doorway, “But what about the storms, would they even survive that?”

Bobbie turned around cooly, “The storms are managiable right now, it has month long period where they subside. I should know.” She turned and walked away, calling over her shoulder, “Now set the coordinate’s, luitenent.”

Morse's second in command, a young, inexperienced woman fresh out of the academy named Yewande Rose, followed closly behind her, loyally. Morse felt bad bad for putting her through this on her first official outing but she needed Rose. 

Rose may have been green but she was organized and to the point without the usual arrogent bullshit that usually came from young officers. 

"Why are you so sure that they are on this planet, Captain?" She asked naively. 

"Because it's where I would have gone if I had Natasha Romanov on my ass."

"But what about the storms and indigieous species?"

"Trust me Yewande, If I had to choose between a determined Black Widow and a giant subterranian predator, I'd pick the worm with teeth every time and I'm guessing so would Skye."  
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“Can you believe this view!?” Skye was yelling from the top of the ship into the latch where Jemma had just appeared at the bottom. She raised her arms in awe of the scenery in front of her. Jemma climbed up the hatch next to where the captain was sitting perched on top of the ship. 

Jemma slid next to her and lifted her head towards the sky, she exhaled as she took in the sun which had just begun to set. It had more colors now, than when they had first arrived, added now to the pinks and the reds there were purples and blues threaded into the sky, whisping about the horizon like some brilliant painting. However, jemma was sure that no artist from earth could ever capture a sunset like this one without actually experiencing it for themselves. This was something that imagination just couldn’t fill on it's own.

“Why do you think it’s changing like that?” Skye asked in wonder of the phenomenom. Jemma merely shrugged and continued to look up. 

There was some worry in the back of Jemma’s mind, it had been some time since she had studied the various meatrological occurenes of alien planets so she couldn’t without reference give an explainaton. However, the worry was only in the back of her mind and for the first time in her life she wasn’t desperate for an answer. She was content with just experiencing it without question. 

She leaned over and bumped shoulders with Skye who stopped looking at the sunset and instead stared curiously at Jemma. “What?”

Jemma shrugged her shoulders. 

Skye didn’t look away but she smirked slightly, “You know I think staring at the sky in this place is one of the few things we don’t argue about.”

“Well, you have to admit that I certainly do have a reason to be argumentative.” Jemma said, matter of factly, and Skye chuckled. 

“Yeah, i guess you do. No hard feelings though, right?” Skye glanced over at Jemma, an eyebrow raised curiously. 

“Of course there’s hard feelings, you bloody took me captive!”

“Yeah, but i just thought, I don’t know, maybe we were getting along pretty well, for the circumstances, anyway.” Skye explained but Jemma just rolled her eyes. 

“Getting along well or not, I’m still your captive and you could kill me or leave me anytime you wanted and that creates a rather large imbalence, don’t you think?”

They were’t looking at each other as they talked, still watching as the sun went down in all of it’s glory, and the planet’s three moons were just becoming visible above the horizon, a light glow becoming apparent around their outer edges. 

“Yeah, but I’m not. I thought that was clear by this point, I mean, you’ve literally driven the ship! And you’re left alone in the cabin all the time. I mean, if I wanted to keep you captive I wouldv’e just trapt you in the hold.” Then she added exasperated, “I’m trying to be nice here!”

“First of all,” Jemma held a finger up, “If you wanted to be nice to me, you could’ve left me on the Mockingbird instead of holding me hostage. And Secondly--”

“Oh the headache I would’ve saved if I had left you there...” Skye mumbled off to the side, 

“Excuse me?”

“Nothing, sorry, go on.”

“And secondly,” She continued, “You’re a pirate, you’re not supposed to have a moral compass, or am I truly ablivious to the profession?

The sun had almost disapeared behind the landscape, leaving a purple glow behind the towering mountains to the south and the Moons were now fully formed glowing orbs hanging in the sky. Their light cast a pink haze over the world, the ship, and the two women sitting on the roof of the Hula Girl. 

“Just because I’m a criminal doesn’t mean I want to destroy and maim every where I go, there’s a gray area between good an evil and I like staying there.”

“And what gray area is that?” Jemma asked skeptically.

Skye turned, leaving one leg hanging over the ship and bending the other one in front of her as she faced Jemma who simply turned her head in the captain’s direction. “It’ that area where I don’t want to be chained to societies rules and I don’t want to burn it either, I just want to be free.” She paused, thinking her words over carefully, “I want to explore, get rich and live my life while also helping the people who really need it. Does that make any sense?”

“Yes. It does.” Jemma was staring at the moon while Skye glanced at her, surprised, 

“Really?” 

“Yes. And the more I spend with you and Helen and Alecta, the more I realize that the place you’re refering to is a reality. That grey area I never thought existed. You’re a different breed, Skye...” Jemma turned her head gently to look at the captain and they sat in silence for a few minutes, the sounds of the jungle echoing around them. 

“But that doesn’t get you off the hook for kidnapping me and stranding me in the middle of a jungle.” Jemma stated curtly.

Skye grinned. Jemma broke and smiled back at her a few moments later. "And you? You like following the rules? It makes you feel nice." Skye repeated what Jemma had previously said. 

"You know that. What of it?"

Skye shrugged, "I'm just excited to see your dark side come out a little more, that's all."

"No you don't." Jemma said, shaking her head. 

"I'm just curious is all."

"Yes well, even I find it hard to believe that such a part of me exists as well but I've learned more about myself this past month than I have my whole life. And it's strange, as out of control and rather grim as this situation is, I must confess that I've never felt stronger, more hopeful than I do now... I don't know if it's this place--" Jemma paused and glanced around at the pink soaked world. "--This ship, or you.."

Skye remained silent, staring at the other woman intently. 

"And if I make it out of this alive-- I'll never be the same again." She drifted off before then returning to her usual curt tone, "Which, as many things in my life right now are, is your fault."

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment or an insult."

"Take it however you like, Capain Skye, but I'm not leaving you, letting you die, or sabatoging any of your plans until you've properly paid me back for dropping me into this bloody situation." Jemma crossed her arms and flipped her hair.

Skye sat next to her looking utterly confused, "Uh-- Thank you?"

Jemma stared, lost in thought at the ground below her swinging legs, Skye kept an eye on her as she spoke, "You're a different breed too, Dr. Simmons... And have you really spent your life thinking that you weren't strong enough to handle the wonder of space?"

Jemma nodded.

Skye didn’t question her any further. 

This had been happening a lot, with the two of them meeting in the evening, talking and bickering until they went silent as the darkness closed in save for the moons, casting strange shadows around the ship.   
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“Are you lying to me?” Ward asked venomously, he was standing outside of a dirt hut among a small village of similar looking huts. Their surroundings were baron and dry, dust flew everytime the wind blew even just a tiny amount and it was easy to see that Ward’s patience was wearing thin, if not by his tone by the resting disgusted grimace on his face.

The man that was standing in front of him was taller than the captain and he held himself high despite Wards attempts to make him feel inferior. He stood in the doorway of the small hut, glaring at the intruding captain, he wore simple white cloth pants and shirt that was fraying and staining at the edges, the fabric glowed against his dark skin. 

“You’re the first vessel to pass by here in two weeks, I’ve already made that clear. Now leave, we have no business with you.” The man made to turn back into his small house when Ward held a hand to the edge of the opening. 

“I heard you. But I don’t believe you, Triplett. You’ve earned quite the reputation for harburring fugitives is all I’m saying. And if you’re telling the truth, no harm done, I’ll even donate a few water capsules. What have you got to lose?”

Triplette pushed his hand away from the opening of the hut and stepped out, “Take a look, all you’re going to find is dust and the sick and helpless. Now get the hell outta here, I’ve got better things to do than listen to you’re squaking.”

Ward backed away, smirking, “You know I don’t need a warrent to search the place.”

“And you know I don’t care about O-Nah’s damn policies or if I have to shoot you.”  
Ward backed away from their standoff towards his ship, farther away from where Triplett was standing guard at the entrance, “You can’t hide behind Jupiter's diplomatic immunity forever, Antoine” He called, before turning around and walking up the ramp of his ship. 

Antoine Triplett glared after the captain for several moments until the hand of the young man that Ward had dropped back off tugged on his shirt sleeve along with a whispered, "Doctor Triplett..."

Trip turned around immedietly and attended to his patient, trying to push Ward's smug attitude and the fact that for some reason that scum was going after Skye out of his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the spelling errors in this chapter :/


	9. Jemma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trip makes a decision to help SKye and Ward confronts The Black Widow over an interesting development. Skye and Jemma deal with their own crisis.

Jemma Simmons personal log, day 16.

"It’s been a week since Helen left to find supplies, I am beginning to worry about her, so is Skye although she remains confident that Helen is fine. Helen did say that it could take a while to find what we needed, if anything was actually out there. If we had our sensors up and running we could find her with those I’m sure but I’ve been tinkering and tinkering on them and I have no options. We need more supplies, everything is fried. Skye got the “Kitchen” working, I had no idea until she surprised me with dinner, a dish I had never had before, it was a martian dish, some strange animal meat, a side of slightly firm yellow paste, and an unusually shaped vegetable. It took me a while to get used to the strange meal but it was quite good. To top everything off, however, Skye had the system make a chocolate milkshake, complete with whipped cream and a cherry on top. hold on, something is happening... I think Helen might be back, I need to go see what’s going on."

 

Trip ducked back down underneath the dirt roof of the little hut and immediately pulled a small white curtain over the entrance, like a door. A young woman was sitting with her hand’s clasp worriedly in front of her, she stared up at Trip. The doctor put a finger over his mouth to tell her to remain quiet and she did.

She was a young, small girl, probably only 14 or maybe 15 years old with dark tanned skin and a shaved head that looked covered in the same red dust that seemed to be everywhere in the village. Despite her plain look, her eyes were a breathtaking shade of purple and they stood out from the rest of her features.

Eventually they heard the whoosh of Ward's ship as it took off, with them taking away someone else from the small village, or camp more like it. They sighed as the air became quiet again, and the girl who had obviously been having problems staying quiet spoke up. “Where are they?” She souned excited.

He turned to her and shrugged his shoulders, “I really don’t know.”

She seemed confused by this news, “You mean.. You were telling them the truth? Skye’s not here?” She asked, a bit more sadly than before,

“No, and I haven’t seen her in almost two months, I’m beginning to get worried, she’s never stayed away this long.” He turned from the woman sitting in the homemade chair and began to mix several ingredients into a silver bowl, barely registering the conversation.

“Do you think she’s okay?” The girl persisted and she was sitting on the edge of the chair, waiting for an answer.

Trip sighed and turned around, holding the silver bowl with the unknown substance, “I’m sure she’s fine, she’ll be back anytime now, she’s probably just having to lay low for a bit, now, don’t worry about Skye, she can handle herself. Here take this, this should help.”

He spooned a bit of the liquid into her mouth and she grimaced at the bitter taste, making an obvious “Bleh” face. Trip chuckled, “I said it would help, not that it would taste good. C’mon, kid, you need sleep.”

After he had escorted the young woman to a bed and checked through the rest of the people in the camp, he ducked back into his hut and, after glancing around for any spy ware, he pulled out a hand held computer.

“Any word from Skye?” He asked it,

It beeped a few times then answered in a computerized voice, “No new messages.” It explained.

“Okay, do you have anything on her position?” He tried again,

“Her last known coordinates were outside of the edge of the O-Nah system.”

Trip thought for a few minutes, debating on what the best course of action would be, “Any records of a pirate being caught at that time?” He asked even though he knew there probably wasn’t given the fact that Ward was still snooping around.”

“No. But there has been an influx of ships containing pirated identifications in that area.”

Trip sat back in the seat that the young girl was sitting in previously and sighed, they desperately needed the supplies that Skye was going to bring, also he worried about her, this had been the first time Skye was late to Tah’Reh. It just wasn’t like her.

“How long would it take me to get to those coordinates?”

“In Jupiter's designated transport or The Nenuphar?”

“The Nenuphar of course.” Then he added to himself, “With all those pirates milling about, I need something better than that bucket of rust they give me.”

“At full speed, you should be able to get there within 12 hours.”

“Alright, then that’s what I’m going to have to do.” He stood up and immediately began putting things in his hut away.

“What about the people of Sye-Heit?”

“It’s only 12 hours, contact the corp and tell them to send a substitute.”

“How long?”

“Two days tops.”

“It has been sent.”

A few minutes later Trip was standin in front of a newly uncloaked ship. The Nenuphar was an extremly high class and sleek ship, made for comfortable and safe space travel. Not only was she an incredibly beautiful ship with a thin design and black and gold exterior but she was also equipped with the newest technology. 

Perfecting this ship had been Trip's hobby and main expense for over three years and his hard work had definitely paid off. 

His face brightened as she uncloaked and the ramp unfolded at his feet. He walked up the ramp proudly with his arms out stretched, "Lilly, my girl, hows it going?"

The gentle and feminine voice of the ship's AI responded immedietly, "Very well, Antoinne, although I have missed you. What is the occasion today?"

"We're going to find and possibly save Skye; A mission of questionable legality, what you do you say, Lil'? You up for it?"

"I am always up for shenanigans, antoinne, you know that."

"Perfect, let's get going." 

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“What is it?” Jemma had sprinted from Skye’s room to the bridge when alarms and red lights started going off throughout the ship. She found Skye moving back and forth from console to console.

“I don’t know. Something’s wrong with Alecta and she’s not speaking.” Skye sighed and tried again, “Alecta! What’s going on? Is Helen okay?” She asked forcefully.

Jemma moved next to Skye, reading over the information that was being displayed on all of the screens. It was showing a signal, presumably Helen’s signal moving and then disappearing. Looping over and over again on every single monitor.

“Where is she? I thought we didn’t have a signal on her?” Jemma questioned,

“We don’t, but Alecta and Helen have trackers embedded in their servers so they can help each other in an emergency. And Alecta’s panicking, we need to get her to tell us what’s going on, maybe we can help.”

Jemma followed Skye through the ship as she messed with different panels, flipping switches and hitting buttons, “I though AIs didn’t do that anymore, that they have overload protectors?”

“Yeah, they do but Alecta’s an older model, she doesn’t have that.” Skye grunted as she pulled back a lever and the lights stopped strobing and the alarms ceased.

They took a moment, their ears getting used to the quiet again, “Alecta?” Skye tried, a little gentler this time.

“Helen’s signal has completely disappeared.” Alecta explained calmly, almost without emotion in her crackly voice, "I don't know where she went." There was a certain amount of pain evident even in her harsh voice.

“Okay, well, then we’re going to have to find her, okay?” Skye explained, almost as if she was trying to keep a child calm.

“I will send you the links.”

Skye nodded and walked back to the bridge quickly with Jemma at her heels, “What could have caused her signal to just cut out like that? Could she have been picked up by another ship?”

“I don’t think so, I feel like Alecta would have been able to tell if that happened.” She pulled out her hand held and opened a hologram of the disappearance.

“Well, what do you think happened?” Jemma pressed on, almost whispering over Skye’s shoulder.

“I’m not sure but I’m not going to let Helen be stranded out there when she needs us.”

Jemma nodded adamently in agreement, “I’ll go get a pack.”

“I’ll meet you on the ramp.”

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“Uh—Captain.. It’s a smorgasbord..” The overwhelmed second in command of the Silver Tongue watched at the twenty or so ships that were surrounding the edge of the O-Nah sector.

Ward came up behind him and looked at the information, his brow furrowed, “The bounty must have been leaked by someone.”

“Yeah, I think we’ve got some competition on finding this pirate.” The second in command was concerned but the captain smirked arrogantly.

“More like insurance, scan the identification of all the ships and see who we can “Pick up” on our way out, we’ve got plenty of cells available. Invite ‘em over.” Ward chuckled, 

“Yes, Captain.” The second in command saluted and began barking orders at the crew on the bridge, most of them forced to be there, unlike the second in command.

Ward made his way to his office off to the side of the bridge of the massive ship, he sat back in the plushed chair and pulled up the hologram, “Contact the Avenger for me, will ya?”

A few seconds later The Black widow’s face was in front of his, she looked irritated at the intrusion. He smiled a toothy grin and held his hand’s out innocently, “Romanov! How are you doing?”

“Great.” She said sarcastically, “I love talking to the scum of the earth.” She glared at him as he continued to smirk, unaffected by her cruel tone.

“No, doll, that’s you, remember?” He patronized still grinning.

She sighed and sat back, “The hell you want Ward?”

“I don’t know if you’re protecting her or you’re just trying to get her but this plan of yours is a little ridiculous, Widow. I expected better of you, I really did.”

It was her turn to smirk, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh really, so the fifty little desperate pirates out there just got the bounty information by themselves? What are you planning to do? Let one of them get Skye and the Girl and then take them off the ship?”

“I have nothing to do with that and I’m not trying to get her, Ward. But I’m guessing you are?”

Ward chuckled as if she just told a joke, “Right, so you just don’t care at all about those million credits being offered for the both of them?”

“I don’t need them.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot, you’re being funded by your rich wife. Right.”

At the mention of her wife, the Widow sneered at the man across from her, “It’s getting hard to keep up that slave empire isn’t it? Getting a little low on cash? Is the milky way getting in the way of your pathetic little outfit?” She growled out venomously, and then she continued, not letting him respond, “Skye may have fucked up and maybe she’s done for but I’d rather turn in my own life than let her be taken by the likes of your filth.”

Ward didn’t respond and Romanov reached over to turn the hologram off but before the image blacked out she paused, “Oh, and Ward, go fuck yourself, doll.”

Ward sat back, the grin still evident although much less bright and arrogant; he sighed and turned around to look out the window. At the edges of his view he could see a few ships wondering about in the void.

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Skye and Jemma were standing outside of the edge of the jungle, packs on their backs and their suits zipped up tight.

“I think we can cut the time in half if we bypass this area—“ She circled a piece of the map with her finger, “Then we might be able to find out what happened.”

“And if she’s coming back then she’ll probably take the shorter route.” Jemma concluded.

“Exactly. Ready.”

Jemma sighed and pulled her pack higher up on her back, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

They entered the jungle, as they penetrated the outer brush the sunlight disappeared and they were suddenly in a different world altogether. A much darker word where there wasn’t much room to breath. The trees and the underbrush were tightly packed underneath the canopy that blacked out nearly all sunlight and dripped left over moisture all over the Captain and Jemma.

“This is just wonderful.” Skye stated sarcastically as she slashed through the underbrush with a makeshift machete.

“Yes, it will be quite interesting navigating accurately under these conditions.” Jemma stated almost to herself as she stomped down some of the plant life that was still alive even after Skye’s efforts.

“Hey, thanks for coming with me, you could’ve stayed with the Hula Girl.” Skye grunted out,

Jemma stopped for a moment and smiled behind Skye, “Yes, well, I like Helen quite a lot. I do hope she’s alright.”

“Yeah, she’s really nice, isn’t she? And she’ll be fine, she’s one tough android, trust me, I’ve seen her do some incredible things.”

“Well, if you weren’t worried then you would have stayed at the ship.” Jemma pointed out. “When did you two meet?” Jemma inquired, mostly to pass the time but also because she was genuinely interested.

“I met Helen..” Skye though for a moment, “When I was sixteen, she was traveling across the planet Zanwoh, knocking off small joints and collecting a fortune. I was stopped with my mom at the docking center, we talked for hours, she had the best stories. Helen was one of the most interesting criminals I had ever met. She wasn’t a pirate, then, more like a bank robber….”

Skye thought for a few moments about the memory before she continued, “Anyway, when I drudged up The Hula Girl from the ship graveyard, I called Helen up and asked her to come with me on my first plundering. She agreed. And she’s been with me ever since. Even when things haven’t been so great.”

Skye laughed and added, “But I guess she brought Alecta into my life so we’re even.”

“She sounds like a great friend.”

“She’s is. She’s my best friend. And a total Nerd.” Skye added with a laugh.

“She’s going to be okay, Skye. Like you said, she’s very tough.” Jemma reassured,not fooled by the captain's attempt to joke her way through her feelings.

Skye stopped and looked back at Jemma who stopped just behind her, their space cramped because of the jungle, “Thanks, Doctor Simmons.”

“You can just call me, Jemma.”

“Thanks Jemma.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Nenuphar" is french for water lilly


	10. Something Incredibly Stupid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Black Widow calls in an acomplice, Trip gets a serious scare and Skye and Jemma are forced to take shelter after the weather turns bad.

“Clint.” Natasha turned dramatically in her chair to look at her second in command, 

“Yes, Cap’n?”

“Who is Skye’s contact in Tah-Reh?” She seemed to be looking straight past him, her eyes squinted slightly in concentration.

“She has a contact In Tah-Reh?” Clint popped his head up from his station and looked at her curiously,

“Of course she does, half of her income is going towards the rebels, she must have someone dealing with the transactions. I just don’t know who it is…”

“Yeah, sure, so I’ll do that, but why do you want to know.”

“Because Ward’s on her ass right now, she’s going to need all the help she can get.”

“Wh-What about us?” Clint continued to question and Natasha finally snapped herself out of her thoughts and she smiled at her second in command.

“We are. I promised May I wouldn’t interfere unless I had no other choice. Just find her contact and give me the coordinates when you find them. I’ll be in my room.” Natasha stood up and left.

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“Over here!” Skye pointed upwards to a small cave just inside of a waterfall, they were nearly to the coordinates which Helen was last located when the downpour started. Neither Skye or Jemma really cared that it was raining, and at first they were grateful for the shower since they were both sweaty and hot from the journey but it didn’t take long till they were nearly drowning in the sheets of rain.

It was a small depression in the rock that Skye was pointing to, hidden behind a water fall that fell over the side of a rock formation. It was a little smaller than a cave but it would do in a pinch.

“Where?!” Jemma called through the rain, attempting to shield her eyes from the water. She sputtered as a large gully of rain hit her and she nearly fell to the side.

“Here!” Skye reached back and Jemma took her hand. The Pirate began moving upwards on the natural rock formations leading Jemma by the hand.

“Skye!” jemma’s foot slid out from underneath her and she nearly fell down over the boulder that they were climbing.

Skye held on tight to her hand and braced herself on the crevasse next to the mountain, “I got you!” She pulled Jemma back up just as another wash came over the rocks, nearly toppling both of them. Jemma clung on to Skye’s side and they continued to move towards the little sanctuary.

They both fell forward as they reached the small cave and the rain was no longer beating against their faces. Jemma let go of Skye and crawled to the back of the cave, pulling off her pack and grunting, spitting out water. Skye let her pack pull her to the side and she just laid down coughing slightly.

They just sat there breathing hard for a few minutes, listening to the rain continuing to pour outside of the waterfall that created a wall of water, separating them from the jungle outside. It was like they were transported into a completly different situation, the only indication that they were still in the hot, humid jungle was the sound of rain on the trees but even that was muffled by the white noise from the waterfall 

“This is truly a bloody mess.” Jemma lifted herself off of the wall and squeezed water out of her sleeve, she looked over through the water and sighed. The mood suddenly shifting to a more solemn pace. “I hope that Helen’s alright..” Jemma continued to stare out at the water as if it held the answer to what happened to Helen. 

“I keep telling you that she’s going to be fine.” Skye said defiantly, sitting up finally and pulling her boots off, dumping water and some stray plants out of them. 

“You keep saying that but I know you’re worried about her.”

Skye chuckled, “Yeah but that’s not going to stop me from being positive, we’re going to find her and she’s going to be fine. You know, one time she took on twenty Bouhk wrestlers?”

“Twenty?” Jemma asked skeptically, turning away from the water to smirk at Skye who was twistingthe water out of her socks. 

“Well.. It was more like fifteen, but that’s still impressive. She took them all out and never moved two feet, just smacked them from corner to corner, like they were flies.

“It is so often looked down upon for androids to use their strength at full force, it’s good to see one that embraces her powers.” Jemma said methodically, 

“And you know, Helen hates violence, she believes that her mind is all she needs to overpower and outwit opponents... Didn’t stop her from sending those dudes through a few walls to teach them a lesson.”

“What could have they possibly done to deserve that?”

“Well, I kinda wiped out their organization. I was super cocky and I wasn’t worried until they found me and then I really thought I was dead.” Skye laughed, “That was one of the first times I went off planet without my parents, I’m pretty sure my dad asked Helen to come and find me.”

“How old were you, then?” Jemma stared at Skye curiously, as if she were trying to figure her out, a determined yet amused smirk on her lips. 

“I was sixteen.”

“Sixteen! Jemma rolled her eyes, “ When you stole from a Bouhk organization, Skye, you’re such a troublemaker.”

Skye cackled and threw a wet sock in the librarian’s direction, Jemma jumped backwards and flicked it way with loud “Hey!” before throwing it back. 

 

“What has she gotten herself into this time...” Trip was staring out the window of his impressive cruiser, it was small but the enhancements he had placed on it made it worth three times as much. It was sleek and built for speed and remaining unseen. On the side of the ship, there was no name, just a printed out image of the badge of Jupiter. That had been a long time ago, when he was stationed as a doctor on his homeworld but now he used his power and his privilege to help the rebels while also advocating against the continued partnership between the Oh-Nah galaxy and the milky way. 

Outside the window he saw the massive expanse of ships, most of them with illegal identifications or known bounties on their heads, moving about carefully. He shook his head, he liked Skye but that didn’t mean that she didn’t get herself into these situations way to much for his liking, however, this seemed worse that anything she had done before.

“These were her last known coordinates, any way to know which way she went after this?” Trip was worried about how close they were to the borders of the Oh-Nah empire. Skye had sailed this part of the void many times before but things happen in such unstable areas. 

“No. Her signal disappears. I would assume that everyone else here is trying to do the same thing.”

Tripp sighed, “Thanks Lilly, I--”

Transmission coming in from “The Avenger.”

Tripp paused, his eyes were wide and he honestly had no response to the information he was just given except a dull “Uh..”

“She’s overriding the options, I cannot--” Lilly’s voice cut out and a second later a hologram formed close to Tripp’s face. 

The Black Widow smiled a deceivingly innocent smile, “Antoine Tripplet, I presume?” She asked politely, as if he were doing a job interview. 

“Uh...” Came his response, he continued to stare at her while attempting to input an override so that he could instruct Lilly to give him information and possibly prepare to run. His vessel was fast but it wasn’t a war ship. 

The Black Widow chuckled, “She’s blocked out, Doctor Triplett, but don’t worry, I’m not here to kill you.” She said, obviously predicting his worries. 

Tripp cleared his throat and straightened his shoulders, “Black Widow, I presume.” He said, copying her manner, “What gives me the pleasure of this encounter.”

“Don’t be so humble, Doctor, you’ve caused quite a stir within galactic alliances, and I know you’re banned in at least three different sectors, But--” She leaned back, “I digress, I have personal business with you.”

“Business I wasn’t aware of, apparently. Is this how you’ve taken such a large portion of control in neutral space? You just unnerve your opponents by catching them off guard? ‘Cause, I have to admit--” He explained chuckling nervously, “It’s a good tactic, kudos to you.”

She laughed, “It’s a start definitely. But, no, I’m here about Skye May.”

Tripp’s breath caught in his throat, a movement the Widow certainly saw, so she continued, “Do you know her?”

“Cut the bullshit, Captain Romanov, I know that you know that I know her, so what do you want.” He said, thereby executing a perfectly performed tongue twister. 

“I know where she’s at.” The Widow complied, 

“Oh really? And how much for this “Information”” 

“Don’t be so cynical, Doctor.” Natasha was tapping her fingers lightly on the arm of her chair, calmly. 

“Pirate,” Tripp explained, 

“A profession that you often associate yourself and your success with, whether you publicly do so or not. I don’t have time for this. I’m sending you the coordinates and the bounty information.”

“And am I to assume you’re doing this out of the kindness of your heart?”

The Black Widow grinned, “I do that quite a lot and yet nobody seems to believe me. Good Luck, Doctor.” She ended the transmission with a wink and a few seconds later Trip saw the edge of “The Avenger” leaving the sector. 

“Lilly?” He glanced around the cabin, genuine concern for the AI in his expression. 

“Yes, I am here, would you like to display the coordinates that she sent us?” Her calm tone sounded forced but, nonetheless, Tripp sent let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank God, I thought maybe you were gone there.”

“I did too, Antoine, but let’s get on with the mission.” 

Tripp grinned, “Always the determined one.”

“As are you, Antoine, here is the information that she sent.”

A holographic map materialized in front of him, a red are circled on one corner, he studied the map, it was a vague area and he was hoping for something more concrete but at least it was a start.

“Set a course for this area--” He said, pulling out and zooming in on a piece of the map, “This is where I would go if I needed to hide.”

“Course set.”

“Thanks Lil’, let me know when we get there? I’m going to catch some shut eye.”

“Sweet dreams, Doctor.”

.  
.  
.

“What are you doing?” Skye asked, slightly taken aback.

Jemma turned to look at Skye over the small artificial fire that they had built in the cave after about ten minutes. They had quickly realized that the rain wasn’t going anywhere any time soon and it was nearly impossible to move or travel in the downpour. 

Jemma was half way through pulling her shirt off, when Skye asked her what she was doing, “I’m cold, and my clothes need to dry.” She said, as if it were obvious, “You need to do the same or you’re going to become ill.”

“Oh, yeah, Um, sorry..” Skye turned her head away uncomfortably as Jemma de-clothed next to her. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, Skye, get your clothes off so they can dry!” Jemma scorned her, already laying her own clothes flat on the ground to dry. 

“You know when I thought about somebody saying that to me I didn’t expect it in this context.” Skye quipped but began pulling her own suit off obediently. When she was finished, Jemma was already in her underwear, sitting close to the fire with her knees pulled up to her chin, shivering slightly in the cool breeze coming through the edges of the cave. 

“Here, this’ll help--” Skye handed her a thin, grey blanket that had a crinkly and almost plastic like texture to it, “They hold in heat, they’re not meant for comfort.” Skye explained as Jemma grimaced, taking the crinkling blanket from the Captain. 

They sat in silence for several moments, the sounds of the waterfall and storms outside along with the awkward crinkling of the blankets filled the space. The fire was made out of artificial wood that was designed to light immediately and give out warmth, it didn’t look like a real fire, more like stiff glowing logs on the ground. 

“I hope this rain stops soon, we need to find Helen.” Skye sounded worried, she pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. The two of them were sitting on the same side of the “fire” the side that put out the most heat and they stared awkwardly at the ground. 

“Perhaps she was farther south than we though? She may have run into this storm and it washed something loose?” Jemma offered. 

“Maybe.. But she would have come back if that were the case.”

Jemma nodded sadly at the point and looked back to the orange glow, “So do you do a lot of good?” She asked suddenly, not looking at the captain. 

“Excuse me?”

“Like your mum, I mean, what do you do with the things that you steal? I’m just curious as to what would cause a person to live this life if it isn’t for greed.”

Skye huffed out a small laugh at that, “Well, pirate is an umbrella term, for anyone who opposes the galactic alliances.”

“Is that what you do?” Jemma stared at Skye curiously, 

“Well, I mean, I’m not political, I just like being a pain in the ass for the empires that try to “Control” the void and I try to make money to survive while I do that. It’s a pretty simple philosophy, actually.”

“So what do you do with the money that you collect? Like the money you’re going to get from the “Mockingbird” Raid?”

“Lot’s of questions today, “ Skye chuckled, and Jemma looked down, a small blush under her jaw, 

“I’m just curious, and you’re the only pirate that I’ve ever met.” Jemma explained, 

Skye seemed content with that answer and continued, “Well, I give a lot of it to the rebel cause on Tah-Reh, for weapons, food, water, and most importantly medicine. One of my best friends, Trip, he’s a doctor on Tah-Reh and he stays in the camps and villages, helping and fighting whenever he can. They haven’t been able to kick him out yet because he’s “representing the good-will of Jupiter”” Skye laughed and shook her head, “I don’t know how he charmed his way into those permits but as of right now, he’s got diplomatic immunity.”

Jemma didn’t react but she kept questioning, “I thought you weren’t political?”

“I’m not but you don’t have to be political to sympathize with the rebels on Tah-Reh, I mean and they’re hiding the whole thing trying to keep negotiations good with the Milky way and her sister galaxies.” Jemma looked at her questioningly and she continued, “You see, most of the things living in this part of the universe are telepathic and sometimes even telekenetic but not everyone, a lot of times people are born without telepathic abilities.. It’s genetic and they’re hated for it. If you know about the genocide and atrocities that happened in the Milky way in the past then you can understand what’s happening.”

She paused, thinking, “My mom’s been fighting against the O-Nah’s government for years and the only way to help a lot of the time is to become a criminal. So a lot of us just ran with that and became pirates. Why? are you thinking about becoming a pirate?” Skye asked jokingly. 

Jemma didn’t say anything and simply responded with a small and impressed “Huh”

Skye, who had turned her head, did a double take of Jemma, shocked, “Wait. You are?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Yeah but you went ‘huh’,” Skye imitated her expression and sound, “That means you’re thinking about it.”

Jemma scoffed, “It does not!”

“Yeah it does! People go ‘Hmph’ when they’re considering something.”

“Do they?” Jemma asked, innocently

“Yeah they do!” Skye insisted, Jemma rolled her eyes and found a great interest in the ceiling of the cave, Skye continued to stare at her, silently willing her to answer.

A few moments later and Jemma gave in, “I’m just trying to live in the moment here, keeping my mind open. Something I’ve had to do quite a lot since you kidnapped me.”

“That’s a good thing, though, right?”

“Well, yes, I mean, of course, but honestly I’ve always known exactly who I was, what I was capable of, and now..” She paused, her words becoming quieter, “I don’t know anymore...” She trailed off, turning away from the captain.

Skye remained silent for a few minutes until she said, “Hey, I mean, I think that’s pretty cool. I’ve never really known what I wanted, not really anyway.”

Jemma looked back over at Skye who smiled when their eyes met, “But that’s what’s so—fascinating about you and your lifestyle, the idea of being completely free. I won’t lie, Skye, even in books or in my research, I could have never imagined a world like this, I mean, the sunsets here, they’ve never been documented, studied, I’ve witnessed something unique and amazing. Every morning for the past month, I haven’t known what I was doing for the rest of the day, in fact, I didn’t even know If I was going to live to see the next morning.. I don’t know if I’m suffering from some kind of shock or Stockholm syndrome but I—“

She paused and made a frustrated gesture in the air, “I don’t think I’ve ever felt more alive in my life and as much as I want to go home, I feel as if I will never be satisfied with who I was and it’s---“ She sighed, “It’s almost as if the person who I was has died, I feel as if I’m grieving something and celebrating something that's not here anymore. I don’t even know if that makes any sense…”

Skye said nothing, and neither did Jemma as her words hung heavy in the air, the moment heavier than the rain pouring down outside. Both of them wanted to say more but they felt content for the silence until they could form words and when they could, it was Skye who spoke first.

“You know.. Ever since you showed up, I think I’ve realized that I’m either the most unlucky thief in the universe or I’m just the dumbest smart person I know and I think it’s the latter…” Skye twiddled with her thumbs as she spoke, looking like a shy child.

“I think I’ve been a rather good hostage, thank you very much.” Skye laughed and so did Jemma,

“No, I mean, you’ve always been out there, and when I finally get to meet you I’m kidnapping you… I could have handled that so much better.” She chuckled, “Maybe things could have been different, between us, I mean.”

“What about us?”

“Well, it’s like you said, no matter what happens, I’m always the kidnapper and you’re the hostage, there will always be an imbalance no matter how much I don’t want that, I ruined any chance of what we could have been if we had met under different circumstances. You could’ve met the better part of me…” Then she added with forced humor, “And I’m obviously the worst hostage taker ever!” She threw her hands up and smiled over at Jemma who wasn’t smiling but was staring at the captain with wide eyes.

Skye looked away embarrassed, Jemma didn’t take her eyes off of her and a second later she had closed the space between them. Skye glanced up, “What are you—“ She was interrupted as Jemma placed a soft and chaste kiss on her lips. Jemma closed her eyes and kissed her again as Skye returned the soft kiss nervously.

They remained close moments after, feeling each others warm breath on their faces, “What was that for?”

“I just wanted to see what it felt like to do something incredibly stupid.”


	11. Once a Pirate Always a Pirate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Morse gets blamed for something she didn't do and Skye and Jemma continue their search for Helen.

“Captain, there is a ship from O--Nah security closing in and requesting to board.” Lieutenant Rose stood in the doorway of Captain Morse’s room. 

The Captain barely even looked up, but she sighed in response to this news, “Probably more check ins, let them on, tell them I’ll be with them in the next hour.” She said dismissively and Rose left immediately to relay the news. 

Morse was still studying the maps of this part of the galaxy, they had hit a few snags on the way to the unknown planet where her officers had guessed that Skye may be stranded or hiding. And by snags, they had come in contact with even more pirates, all of them manageable and all of them handed back over to the appropriate authorities.

Natasha had given up a lot easier than she had wanted but then again, Morse knew that the Widow was still prickly about the fact that she left the underground and became what they had always hated. Now, as far as she knew it was only herself and that bastard Ward working to find them. She really hoped that she would be able to find them before Ward. 

Her door opened suddenly without a warning and she glanced up, irritated, she had told everyone to give her a signal before just barging in. She was about to scold someone when she registered who was standing in her doorway. 

Three large people in security uniforms were looking at her and her office critically, they were probably from O-Nah or by the looks of the one woman in the middle with her large shoulders and square face, maybe Tah-Woh. Morse knew her from somewhere, probably some meeting she had to attend but the woman’s determined and slightly angry face was easy to remember. 

Then it hit her. She had been at Morse's trial.

“What is the meaning of this?” Morse stood up, to face the intruders. The woman in the middle walked forward into her office to face her and handed her a computerized document. 

Morse took it and read the form on the front, it described that she was the main suspect in the disappearance of the three items that Doctor Simmons was transporting to the O-Nah people as a sign of good faith. She was to be transported to the prison on O-Nah immediately pending further evidence, if she was found innocent then she was to be given back to her corresponding sector but if she was found guilty then she would be help liable to the people of O-Nah with either prison sentence or execution. 

Morse looked up from the tablet, “What the hell? What happened to the cargo?”

The tall woman in the middle glanced at the counterpart on her right, a shorter woman with dark skin and reddish brown curly hair, Morse guessed that she was probably the only one that knew how to speak without using telepathy. Whatever the leader told her, she relayed. 

“You are being arrested for the theft of the paper books given to the O-Nah people, please come along willingly or we will have to execute force.”

“How could I have stolen them they were in the care of your people?” Morse Snapped, “What kind of sick joke is this.”

“Evidence to link you to the crime has been found at the scene and you will have to be detained and your quarters and ship searched thoroughly.” The shorter woman relayed robotically, 

Morse crossed her arms and took a step forward, “This is bullshit, what are you bastards trying to cover up by getting rid of me? There is no way I’m going through with this without contacting my superiors.” She turned away to walk to her communications device but the man on the left stepped forward and grabbed her arm tightly. 

She pulled her arm away and tried again but he grabbed her forearm again and flipped her elbow back behind her body, taking her other arm and snapping it quickly in to hand cuffs.The cuffs were made out of thick metal and every time she struggled against them they would send a shock of electricity through her body. She yelled and tried to kick away but he was probably from Tah-Woh as well and he over powered her easily. 

“Please be compliant, Captain Bobbie Morse, we do not want to use force on you.” The smaller woman relayed. 

The man pushed her forward until she was facing the leader of the security trio, the tall woman leaned forward and tutted Morse, shaking her head disappointedly, the she said with broken syllables as she tried to use her tongue to speak, “Once a pirate. Always a pirate.” She sneered.

Morse spat in her face and then she was pushed harshly past her, the leader snickering at her and wiping the spit off of her face calmly. The leader glanced at the smaller woman who could speak clearly and then she turned to follow Morse and the other officer.

Lieutenant Rose had been standing behind this scene and listening in, her face becoming more and more shocked and concerned. She nearly fell back when they began to take the Captain away, passing her without a single glance. The last woman though stopped in front of her, holding her tablet and typing something on it.

She looked up when she was finished, she held out a Captain’s pendent and despite the young woman’s flinch, pinned it on the front of her shirt. “You have been promoted. Do not leave this galaxy, there is still much to do.”

Rose lifted her hand up and touched the pendent, her mouth open in shock, she turned around and watched as they dragged her captain away. The whole crew was staring at her and she cleared her throat as they departed, then she said in a hurry as she went towards the captain’s office, “Uh... I will be back, don’t move the ship.”

 

Inside the security vessel, the leader turned around to look at Morse who was currently being strapped into a prisoner’s pod by the others. “You know, I am not surprised that this happened. I blame your authorities more than you. They should never had let a criminal such as you become an officer. Some things never change.”

Morse snarled at her and resisted the straps being tied around her arms and legs, but she remained silent as they strapped her in and left her in the cargo hold. 

She mumbled to herself as they left, “Once a pirate. Always a pirate.” And began to pull at her restrants.

.  
.  
.

“We may only have a small window to find her so we should hurry, there’s no telling when this rain is going to start again.” Skye was looking at her hand held computer, attempting to get it to tell her the weather forecasts but, along with the rest of the ship’s sensors, it wasn’t much help. 

They were standing just to the side of the waterfall they had hid behind, their packs on their backs. The rain had just ended not 15 minutes before and they both understood that they were on a time crunch. 

“Right. I do hope we find her. I would hate to be alone in that downpour, android or not.” Jemma pulled her pack tighter and glanced around as she stood behind the captain. 

The night before, after her token of affection, both her and Skye had turned over and went to sleep, neither of them ready to deal with the consequences of the kiss. This morning they had exchanged an awkward smile but besides that they seemed to have a silent agreement not to mention the kiss or what it meant. They had a job to do and they were both ready to fulfill it. 

“Yeah, no kidding.” They started walking back through the jungle, again using Skye’s makeshift machete to get through the thick underbrush. 

“So who do you have at home? Whose going to be waiting for you when you get back?” Skye asked when they had gotten quite a big distance, more to pass the time. 

“Trying to get to know me now, are you?”

“Better late than never.”

Jemma rolled her eyes but answered Skye’s question anyway, “My parents, and my best friend Fitz. I hope they don’t know what’s happened to me.”

Skye glanced back, “Why wouldn’t you want them to know?”

Jemma shrugged, “I don’t want them to worry, surely you’ve felt that before..”

They were silent after that, the awkward conversation, hanging in the air as they trudged through the jungle. Finally Skye spoke up first, “Alright, can’t do it. Why did you kiss me?”

Jemma didn’t answer, she only continued to push down the plant life with her boot, following behind Skye. If her face wasn’t already so red from the humid climate of the jungle, one could see the blush working it’s way up her neck to her ears.

“Come on, I’m so damn confused right now.” Skye tried again, 

“I- don’t know, it just seemed like the right thing to do in that moment.” Skye didn’t say anything so she continued, “Oh Skye, I’m just as confused as you, okay? The person I was a month ago would never had done that but I’ve gone through this sudden transformation and honestly I don’t know what to think of anything anymore... But when I think about the possibility of me ever getting back to where I came from-- To my old life, it just seems horribly dull and now that I’ve met you I don’t know if I ever want to live without you again and I hate it.” she sped up her words working through her explanation. 

Skye’s mouth dropped and her eyes widened but she remained silent, so Jemma went on, “Honestly! It’s terrible and it’s wonderful and I’m just so bloody confused and I’m worried about Helen and-- Oh my god, Skye, what is that!” She screamed and Skye stopped in her tracks.

Ahead of them, coming towards them at a quick pace, the ground was pushed into a long mound, the hill coming closer to them every second. They could hear the dirt and roots being ripped away as whatever it was sped towards them, small trees and animals were being thrown to the side as the mound of dirt shoved it’s way towards them. 

“I don’t know! Run!” Skye pushed Jemma to the side and they ran through the jungle, this time without the help of Skye’s machete, getting them slapped in the face and body with tree limbs and scratchy, thorny plants.

Jemma looked behind them, “It’s still coming after us!” She screamed and Skye tugged her in another direction. Jemma followed, whatever that was under the ground was catching up with them and their time was running out. Finally Skye pointed to a large tree with low branches, she glanced at Jemma who nodded her head and pushed forward. 

They practically fell face first into the tree’s trunk, and they scrambled on the slick moss as they tried to climb up onto the first limb available. Skye helped push Jemma onto the limb and she clutched on with her legs, reaching down to pull Skye up. Skye’s boot slipped a few times but soon she was on the large branch next to Jemma, breathing heavily. 

“What the bloody hell is that thing?” 

“I don’t know, I-- Aah!” The large mound in the ground hit the side of the tree and the two women nearly fell over. The great tree shook and strained against the force of the hit. However, it’s roots held on, and the tree remained standing.

“Okay...” Skye said, clinging onto the side of the tree, “So that’s a thing.” 

“A thing that is hunting us if I’m not mistaken, “ Jemma offered, grasping onto the limb with both her arms and her legs. 

The underground monster hit the bottom of the tree again and it creaked and swayed but remained standing. The women gasped and clung on tighter. 

“It’s going to go away, right? I mean, it’s underground, it’s got other things to kill besides us right?” Skye asked, tentatively, 

“I don’t even know what it is, I couldn’t predict it’s hunting pattens with nothing to go on.” 

“I’m trying to be positive, just tell me it’s going to go away.” Skye whined, 

“It’s going to go away.” Jemma repeated just to make Skye feel better about the situation, but it was obvious neither of them were that confident. Whatever had been chasing them was now circling the tree around them, they could hear the roots being ripped from underneath them. They still had no idea whatever was chasing them looked like, so far it just resembled an incredibly large, moving ant hill. A sight which was more terrifying than one would think. 

“Look!” Jemma pointed to the creature under the ground, or rather the imprint of it in the dirt, the previously even swell was now warping and widening. 

The captain stood up glaring down at the ground as the thing continue to warp, “Oh crap, it’s going to evolve or some shit isn’t it?”

“I don’t know but it looks like it might explode..” Jemma was peeking at it over the edge of the limb, her eyes as wide as the captain’s, “Oh no, what’s it doing now?”

She was referring to the fact that it had begun to move faster and more agitated around the tree, now less with a purpose to kill and more disturbed, whatever was happening it was still incredibly strong and as it tore through the ground the roots that had been keeping the w omen’s refuge standing began to rip loudly and the tree started to sway violently. The women latched onto the trunk and closed their eyes as the last root holding them up was ripped away and the tree began to fall backwards. 

They screamed but Skye pulled her arm around Jemma and clung to the trunk, attempting to keep them from being crushed under the giant tree’s weight. It hit the ground with a deafening crash and they were thrown off and onto a patch of smaller trees which collapsed under their weight. The women rolled away from the impact but they were on their feet a second later, their eyes scanning the ground in a panic. 

They ran towards each other and met in the middle, backing away from what they couldn’t see, Skye’s words got caught in her throat as the tree was lifted slightly and the mound pushed forward underneath it, “Run-- Jemma run!”

The librarian didn’t hesitate and turned and ran with Skye on her heals, she continued to glance behind them as they ran but after a few feet she realized the the threat was stationary, she paused, spinning around to look, Skye ran into her.

“Jemma, what are you doing? We-”

“Look.” The librarian pointed to where the lump in the ground had stopped and was now just warping, sending rock and dirt down it’s back, or face or whatever part of it’s body they could see. 

“What’s it doing?” The captain inquired, looking forward curiously, keeping a hand on Jemma’s wrist. The librarian took a step towards it and Skye put her arm in front of the woman, “What are you doing?”

“Perhaps it’s dead?” Jemma’s inner scientist came out and she was inexplicably drawn towards the unknown predator. 

“Perhaps this is how it traps things so it can eat them.” Skye stated, mimicking the other woman’s accent as she spoke. 

“I just want to..” Jemma leaned down and grabbed a long sturdy stick, slowly as if her movement would wake the creature. 

Suddenly the ground shifted and she yelped and dropped the stick, backing away into the Captain, “Or perhaps you’re right..”

They heard a squelching noise coming from the mysterious creature and their eyes widened and they both took a simultaneous step back. A second later the mound was pushed up slightly and a green ooz began to leak out of the ground, Skye made a sound of disgust as the liquid pooled around the mound of dirt. 

“I think maybe--- Aah!” The ground popped open like some huge green pimple and the women shielded their eyes from the shrapnel of dirt, rock and green goop. 

Inside the ground a green oozing crater was left, a form was moving around in the goop. It pushed passed the pieces of ground that had mixed into the body and stood up. Skye and Jemma’s mouths dropped at the form standing in the middle of this creature’s carcass. dripping wet and drowned in both guts and dirt. They had their fists balled up at their sides.

Skye took step forward, “Helen?”

Helen looked up, her mouth in a stationary expression of disgust, she flipped on of her arms to the side and a pool of green blood flew off into the greenery. She opened her mouth and spit out more green blood, as her crew members stared in shock. 

The android gave a small, forced smile, “There are giant subterranean creatures inhabiting this planet, Captain. I believe they may be the reason this planet is not colonized.” She stated dryly, coughing up a peice of the creature's organ. 

“No shit...” Skye nearly coughed out, still staring wide eyed at the android.

Helen took a steady step out of the what remained of the carcuss buried halfway into the ground. "Can we go home now?" 

Skye and Jemma snapped out of their trance and the captain leaned forward, putting a tentative hand on the android's shoulder, her fingers immedietly covered in the creatures blood and remains, "Of course sweetie, lets go home."

Jemma nodded adamently at that and stepped back to let Helen pass with Skye following closely behind. The captain gave Jemma a quick look but other than that their personal problems fell to the side as they escorted the slightly traumatized android back to The Hula Girl. 

With only a minor set back. 

"Jemma what are you doing?" Skye called behind her. 

"I'm just getting a quick sample."

"Ugh, you know there could be more of those things, right?"

"For preservation and science, Skye."

Skye threw her hands up, "I'm tired, Jemma, I don't want to have to cut you out of a giant freaking worm in the name of "science"."

Despite her condition, Helen glanced over at the captain curiously, "How long have you been calling Dr. Simmons "Jemma"?"

Skye sighed, "It's a long story."


	12. Tension Waiting to Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is this entire chapter just porn without plot? Yes. Does it have anything to do with the rest of the story? No. Am I going to post it anyway? Yes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So this entire chapter is basically just sexy times, it doesn't have any important plot developments or character development so if sex makes you uncomfortable I'm posting the next chapter today as well and you can just skip to that one without missing anything :) 
> 
> This is also the first time I've ever posted smut so I'm a little nervous and if it sucks that's why. Enjoy! :)

“ I am going to clean out my processors...” Helen mentioned more in passing as she headed toward her room, “I hope that you understand.”

“Of course, helen, take your time.” Jemma said soothingly, patting the android lightly on the shoulder, then immedietly wiping away the green blood that had transfered to her fingers on her pants.

Jemma and Skye exchanged a look, a strange silent understanding between the two of them, and perhaps one that had been coming for a long time. The librarian motioned to the captain’s quarters and Skye followed her obediently. Jemma walked behind her and the moment that the door slid shut Skye had twirled around and trapped Jemma against the wall. 

Their mouths collided, in a passionate kiss that was nothing like their first kiss, wet and messy they scrambled for every inch of the other’s body. Skye’s hands moved up until she was able to intertwine her finger’s with Jemma’s and then she raised them up the wall, giving special attention to the other woman’s lips. 

"Wait, wait--" Skye broke the kiss. 

Jemma leaned foreard wantingly, she paused and stared at the captain curiously. "What's wrong?" The shorter woman asked impatiently. 

"This is okay, right?"

"What do you mean, Skye?"

"I mean, you consent to this, right? Completely and totally?"

"Absolutly."

However, Skye stopped her again, "But I'm worried, I mean, kidnapped you, even if you "Consent" and you actually consent?"

Jemma stopped and thought about it for a moment, "Well, if you're worried about it, would you like to officially denounce your captivity of me? That way there won't be any question."

Skye nodded, "Okay, I, Skye May officially release you from my captivity. You are completly free to go where you want, do what you want or who you want. Do you agree to these terms Dr. Jemma Simmons?"

"I do."

"Awesome. And you don't want to go anywhere else right no?"

Jemma sighed, "No, Skye."

"Alright, lets do this."

Jemma nodded quickly and gave her one last deep kiss before moving down and placing her lips on Skye’s neck, the captain’s back arched at Jemma’s sucking on her skin, however Jemma pulled up a moment later smacking her lips. 

Skye understood, “Shower. Yeah definitely.” 

They stayed close and nearly tripped over each other as they skipped the sexy strip and instead dumped their clothing into a corner on the side of the room, untangling themselves from the garments that had been stuck to their skin with sweat and dirt. 

Skye stumbled over to the shower, “Shower on. Hot.” The appliance squeeked but nothing came out of the nozzle, “Uh dammit! really now? You do this to me now?” Skye was staring up at the nozzle with her hands out. 

Jemma moved past her, “Here, let me do it.” 

Skye backed away as Jemma bent over and began to fiddle with the device, and Skye certainly wasn't complaining. Jemma grabbed a wrench and hit the side of the appliance, a moment later it burst to lfe with hot water. Jemma immedietly stepped in, motioning for Skye to join her. 

The shower was rather small and they didn’t have much room but they made the best of it, Skye turned around to face the librarian, admiring the way their bodies melded together in the steaming water. Also the way Jemma’s body rose up to meet hers, kissing her more gently, more like the first time. 

Skye brought her hands up around the other woman’s body, keeping her hands resting lightly on her lower back, making small circles on her skin as Jemma shifted to turn her head and slip her tongue into Skye’s mouth. Jemma’s hands were curled up between them, resting just between Skye’s breasts. 

A few minutes passed as they remained intwined underneath the stream of water before Jemma mumbled softly inbetween kissed, “Mm- Soap.” Skye leaned back and let the other woman reach around her to grab the small, pink, bar of soap that smelled like strawberries. 

Jemma lathered it up between her hands, gazing at Skye as if she were the sexiest thing she had ever seen, she moved the bar up and down her shoulders, Skye stood there, stunned like a deer in the headlights, if this was Jemma’s dark side then she was all about it. 

Jemma closed her eyes and kissed Skye, slipping her tongue inside the brunette’s mouth;Skye moaned and moved closer to the scientist’s slippery body. Jemma began to move the soap up and down the captain’s back and neck, lathering up her body and making the both of them smell like strawberries. The librarian smirked, looking up mischeiviously at the captain. 

“Hold on..” She whispered into her ear, then the smaller woman dipped down below Skye’s line of sight and the Captain’s eyes widened as she felt Jemma’s hands and the bar of soap being moved at a teasing pace between her thighs. Moving up and down from her knees to just below her sex. 

Skye laughed nervously, “What are you doing down there?” She asked, her legs were twitching everytime the librarian moved her hands through them and her core was aching, making the teasing almost unbearable. 

“Be patient, Love.”

Skye’s breath caught in her throat, “Huh, ‘Love’ I like that-- Oh..” Her eyes rolled up and she whimpered as Jemma drug her fingers over the captain’s mound, nearly but not quite brushing her throbbing clit. 

Jemma giggled and then placed a gentle kiss on the inside of Skye’s thigh, still trailing her fingers up and down her legs at an agonizing pace. Skye’s head was back and her eyes shut as she waiting for Jemma to move to where she needed the attention the most. She was just about to give up and beg when she felt the woman’s tongue moving through her folds and flicking her clit. 

Her legs shook and she moaned a lot louder than she had intended. 

After that it didn’t take the libraian long at all to start eating the captain’s pussy like it was her last day on earth. Skye moved backwards to lean on the wall to give the smaller woman's mouth more room between her aching legs.

Jemma kept both hands on the captain’s knees to steady her and she moved her tongue through her lips to her clit and then to her core, licking at the wetness that had already pooled there. She pushed her face deeper and Skye moaned as she began sucking on her folds, alternating between licks and sucks as her nose continuously rubbed her clit making her writhe and wiggle above her. The more Skye wriggled and moaned the more Jemma grinned between her legs.

Jemma’s pace quickened and she moved faster between Skye’s folds and her core, lapping up her juices while she nudged her clit with her nose. Skye’s eyes were rolled back in her head and her toes were curling, she felt like she was floating and it took all over her concentration not to collapse as Jemma ate her pussy, keeping her just near the point of going over the edge. 

“Oh please.. Jemma please.. Please.. I-- Oh Jemma please!” She tried to keep her legs from closing as Jemma moved up and wrapped her lips around Skye’s clit, sucking and flicking the bud with her tongue. 

“Oh my God! Yes! I-- Ahh!” Skye squeezed her eyes shut and and her toes curled as Jemma pushed her over the edge and her inner walls contracted. She grabbed Jemma’s hair as she tried to swallow up the scream that moved through her body and she accedentally pushed the other woman between her legs. 

Jemma oblidged, however and she continued to eat her pussy while Skye came down from her orgasm, her legs twitched as Jemma teased her clit and she fell back against the wall, breathing heavily, she tugged lightly on Jemma’s hair and the shorter woman rose finally and kissed Skye against the wall of the shower. Skye moaned as she tasted herself on Jemma’s lips. 

“Jesus Christ, Jemma...”

The shorter woman giggled, “What?”

“Give a girl some warning will ya?”

Jemma laughed, muffling the noise into Skye’s collar bone, “Well, I was hoping you would return the favor, plus.” She added, “You owe me for a lot of things...”

“Oh.” Skye said, still breathing heavily, “I’m going to get you back, don’t worry.”

“Shower off.” Jemma ordered, her eyes were glazed she bit her lip hungrily as her eyes moved from Skye’s naked, wet body to the bed. She stepped out, doing her best not to touch herself as her core throbbed and the captain followed closely behind her. 

Skye grabbed a towel out of the despenser and wrapped it around Jemma’s shoulders, drying her off only slightly and using the towel more like a tool to pull the shorter woman closer so that she could kiss her again. She wiggled her eyebrows and nodded toward the broken four poster, “Bed?”

Jemma nodded quickly and let the captain push her lightly backwards until the edge of the bed hit the back of her knees and she let her self fall onto the soft comforter, her hair still wet splayed around her head and her legs opening as Skye stood between them smirking. 

Skye nodded towards the front of the bed and Jemma understood immedietly and began to push herself backwards towards the back wall, The captain crawled on the bed, slowly moving closer between her legs. 

She pulled one of Jemma’s legs’ up, bending it at the knee as the back of the shorter woman’s head nearly reached the headboard. The Captain kissed her knee and she smirked, “You ready to get paid back, Dr. Simmons.” Her voice was deeper and huskier than usual and Jemma took a deep breath, nodding quickly and letting her head roll back.

Skye waisted no time getting to Jemma’s pussy, she licked one quick strip up the librarian’s leg and pushed her face between Jemma's thighs. She dropped down on her stomach and pushed Jemma’s legs up as she began lapping through the librarian’s folds, she grinned as she realized that Jemma was dripping wet. 

Jemma’s hips raised as Skye sucked at her core, drinking in all of the smaller woman’s juices and not letting any of it escape. She gripped tightly onto the other woman’s thighs and Jemma raised her arms, grasping onto the pillow beneath her head and biting her lip. 

Skye let go of one of Jemma’s legs and immediety slipped two fingers inside her throbbing core, they slid in with no friction and the shorter woman arched her back while Skye moved her tongue over Jemma’s bundle of nerves. The librarian grunted and whimpered as she tried to contain the moans that were trying to force themselves between her teeth, 

Skye began to smirk as she sucked on Jemma’s clit and the shorter woman let out a moan, the librarian tried to keep herself from bucking up and she gripped her pillow until her knuckles were white.

Skye lifted her head up to look at the other woman, “Hows this for payback?”

Jemma’s hips lifted as the sensations left her wanting more and she grunted, “Oh shush up and fuck me.” She threw her head back, frustrated at the lack of touch that Skye was giving her. The captain giggled and then went back in prompting a satified whimper from Jemma. 

Skye was giving her wide licks that went from her core to her clit, slowly moving through her folds and causing the other woman to shiver everytime she made a lap. Jemma was grunting impatiently as Skye took her own sweet time after digging in so passionately at first. 

“Please, Skye, faster. Faster.”

At that Skye stopped entirely, “Patience is a virtue, Love” She said, mimicking the libraian’s british accent. 

Jemma shoved her hips forward, “Ugh- I’ll let you sit on my face if you just please fuck me properly, Skye!”

The captain’s eyebrow shot up, “What seriously?”

` Jemma continued trying to wiggle her hips forward, “Do I sound like I’m kidding?”

“Yes, Ma’am!” Skye saluted and immedietly shoved her face between Jemma’s legs, moving her tongue quickly through her folds and sucking and slurping through Jemma’s pussy. The librarian had given up on trying to be quiet and she moaned and cried out as Skye pushed her hips up and began fucking her with her tongue. 

She pushed her tongue deep into the other woman’s core and Jemma’s hand flew to Skye’s head, entwining her fingers with the captain’s long thick locks, tugging her forward. The captain began fucking her harder and the normally soft spoken woman’s words became a jumbled mess and she cried out loudly, “OhpleaseSkyefuckme please! Fuck me! Ah yes! oh my god yes!”

Her head went backwards and she screamed as her orgasm hit her and she pulled the captain closer, Skye grinned as she heard the other woman scream and she felt Jemma’s innerwalls contracting around her tongue. Skye didn’t stop and continued to fuck her through her orgasm, until Jemma let go of her hair and fell back onto her pillow, her chest moving up and down quickly. 

Skye crawled up next to Jemma grinning at her widley, “You have the dirtiest bedroom mouth and it’s amazing.” She giggled out. 

Jemma rolled her eyes, “Well, we all have our secrets.”

“Were you serious about the face sitting thing?” Skye laid her head on Jemma’s arm and stared at her excitedly, 

The smaller woman smirked, “Oh we are not even close to being done yet, darling”


	13. The Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SKye and Jemma get a crude wake up call and they have to try to handle a situation that could potentialy kill them. Trip finds the M- Class planet that Skye crash landed on but he may be too late.

Jemma turned over and yawned, her hair was tangled and everywhere and her eyes were droopy and hazy from sleep, beside her Skye was still sound asleep. 

The Captain was laying on her back, her mouth slightly open as she lightly snored. jemma took this chance to look at the other woman without her noticing. 

She was overwhelmed by what had happened the night before and she didn’t know where they were going to go from here, but she had to admit that she knew that it was coming for a while. Skye had awakened something in her and as much as she wanted to push away the possibilities that the captain opened up, she couldn’t resist the way Skye made her feel alive in more ways than she had ever dreamed.

She had no idea what was going to happen and she didn’t even know what she wanted to happen after this ordeal but as she stared at Skye’s slightly switching face she smiled and one thing that she did know was that her life had been changed forever. Suddenly she wasn’t thinking about going home constantly, she had been thinking about the wonders she had yet to experience in space and the possibility of Skye experiencing them with her. 

She decided that she wasn’t going to waste her time resenting Skye or her situation though, and for once in her life she was just content to go wherever the future took her. 

“Captain, Helen needs you on the bridge.” Alecta’s voice buzzed through the room and both Skye and Jemma jumped. The captain’s mouth snapped shut and she sat up quickly, disoriented, and wiping the drool away from the corners of her mouth. 

“Is everything okay?”

“There’s been some interesting weather patterns in the area for a while now but Helen urged that I didn’t interupt you two while you were fornicating.”

Skye cringed at the word “Fornicating”.

Alecta continued, “Honestly, the mating practices of organic organisms never ceases to make me wonder how creatures with such urges ever made it this far.” Alecta laughed, “It’s impressive you made it to space actually. I--”

“We’ll be in there in a minute, thank you.” Skye rolled her eyes and she laid back, turning her head to look at Jemma who had a blush creeping it’s way down her chest as the AI spoke. 

“Don’t let her bother you, she’s a little..” Skye didn’t finish and instead simply shrugged instead of giving an actual explanation. 

Jemma ingored her and instead went straight for the elephant in the room, “What now?”

Skye took a deep breath, “I don’t know.. “ She laughed and rolled over, “I am the worst pirate ever! Ugh--” She said, speaking more to herself than Jemma, “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

The smaller woman smirked, “Tell me about it.” 

Skye laughed, she rolled to the side and shook her head while she giggled over how ridiculous their situation had become, Jemma followed her lead and huffed out a laugh a second later.

“Well, I guess we better go and see what’s up in the rest of the world.” The captain rolled over and sat up on the edge of the bed, “You know it’s been a while since I’ve slept in this bed..” She mentioned more in passing than anything.

Jemma took a moment as she lay on her side to appreciate Skye’s body in the morning, She guessed if she had to sleep with her captor it was good that it was Skye. “So now it’s a “We”?” The shorter wman asked with a smirk.

The captain looked back at her, grabbing a shirt and slipping it over her shoulders, “Hey, if you wanna stay in bed, more power to you. I just though you’d want to see what was going on but if you don’t—“

“I didn’t say that.” Jemma broke in.

Skye looked back at her, “Besides you’re practically crew now, and you’re damn good, there’s always a place on my ship for you, I want you to know that. I mean, I know you had a life before this but..” She trailed off.

“I do. I had a life before this.” Jemma’s voice was losing the post coital charm and was slipping back into her logical doctor voice as Skye called it, “And I still want to get back to it. Soon. So let’s focus on that” She stated, it sounded less convincing than she was hoping, however, Skye’s eyes dropped when she said it and the shorter woman couldn’t help but feel slightly guilty.

“Fair enough.” The captain stood up and strapped on her holster, before stepping into her boots, “I’ll meet you on the bridge.”

Jemma waited until she was out the door before she moved from her position on the bed and sat up. She ran her hand through her hair and groaned, before shaking herself and then getting ready.

She pulled on some of Skye’s old clothes, the one jumpsuit that had been efficiently worn in and the one that fell past her feet and hands, making her feel like a child. She put her own belt on and then headed into the rest of the ship. However, before she left she turned around and glanced at the empty room that had a messy bed and a trail of clothes leading to the shower and still damp foot prints going towards the bed.

Whenever she arrived at the bridge Skye and Helen were already moving quickly from one side to the other, calling out wind speeds and calculations. Helen had completely cleaned up and she was back to her meticulously groomed self.

Despite what Jemma had said before she jumped right in, “What’s going on?” She moved next to where Helen was leaning over what appeared to be a map of the surrounding area.

She looked at the android curiously, “Did you get the sensors working?”

Helen’s head turned toward her and she smiled, “Yes, I was working on the sensors while you and the captain were engaged in coitus.”

Jemma groaned.

“Congratulations by the way.” Helen added, even going as far as to pat the brunette gently on the shoulder proudly.

“Nothing is private in this place is it?” Jemma asked, although she no longer sounded disturbed.

“I’m afraid not. However, we do not have time to celebrate, there is a storm system developing just to the south. I am afraid that if it hits us in the condition that we are in right now, we will not survive.” Helen pointed to a buildup of clouds on the map, before adding, “I am afraid we crashed here in a calm time, I believe that the subterrainian predator that attempted to eat me may not be the only reason we have found no colonies on this planet.”

The captain joined them a second later, “Yeah no kidding, these wind speeds are going to tear us apart.”

Jemma nodded seriously, turning the holographic map around, “If the lightning and tornados don’t do that first.”

Jemma and Helen both turned to the captain, “What’s the plan, Skye?”

Skye took a deep breath and covered her mouth, thinking, “Is there any way we can get the ship flying before the storm hits?”

Helen shook her head, “Negative, we need at least another week to get off the ground. The storm will get here within 24 hours.”

“Then we need to stabilize and reinforce the ship, it’s the safest place we can be but we won’t last in these conditions. Helen, you’re with me on reinforcing the outside of the ship. Jemma, I need you in here working on trying to get the shield up and running.”

Jemma was amazed how in control The captain sounded there and she nodded, slightly in shock as Skye and Helen began grabbing supplies to take outside. She was about to do the same.

There wouldn’t be any future if they couldn’t protect themselves from this storm, Jemma knew that. 

.  
.  
.

“Bobbie Morse has been arrested, Captain.” Ward’s second in command walked up and sent the message silently though his telepathic communication.

Ward’s face lit up, “You’re kidding me.”

The other man shook his head, “She stole the paper books from the O-Nah government. The ones that Jemma Simmons was transporting when she was kidnapped by Skye.”

Ward shook his head, “I always knew Morse was going to break eventually, I was just hoping to be the one to bring her in when she did.” A few minutes later he added, “Wait.. We’ve been keeping track of Morse haven’t we?”

The other man nodded his head, “Yes Sir, we’ve been keeping tabs on her ever since she turned in her counterpart to the Tahgatiuhm Heist.”

“And what has she been doing?”

“Coming towards out sector, Sir. After the Doctor, I assume.”

Ward leaned forward in his chair, “Send me the report will you.”

A flash of information moved in front of him and he read through the report carefully, his face only twitched slightly around his eyes as he read until he got to the end of the report then his features fell.

He turned around in his seat, staring at the wall, his second in command looked up from his post as the captain began to laugh.

“What is it sir?”

Ward didn’t answer but shook his head and mumbled to himself, “Widow, you sly bastard.”

His second in command continued looking at him curiously, finally he turned around with an excited grin on his face. “We’ve got a lot to do, Sen.”

“What about the kidnapped woman, Sir? And the bounty on Skye?"

“Oh we’re getting her too, then we’re going after The Black Widow.”

“The Black Widow? That didn’t go so well last time.”

Ward stood up and faced his second in command, “Things are going to be different this time. Trail the Nenuphar, but don'r get too close and let Triplet do most of the work here. The balence of power is about to change in this part of the void."

.  
.  
.

“We’re dead, we’re dead, so, so dead. The deadest.” Skye moved quickly through the halls of the ship, they could already hear the wind and rain beginning to howl and slam into the side of the Hula Girl.

Jemma came in from the ramp, pulling her hair back away from her face and taking a breath of calm air. She followed suit behind the Captain, “What was that?” she asked, referring to what Skye had just been mumbling to herself a moment before.

“I said, we’re going to be fine.” The captain gave the librarian a reassuring smile and continued into the control room. Jemma raised a skeptical eyebrow, she was just as aware of the severity of the situation as the captain, no matter what she said to make them feel better about the situation.

It wasn’t good and despite their best efforts, the ship was no where near being ready for the onslaught of this storm. The weather system had doubled in size and it’s power was growing every moment, at this rate, the Hula Girl would be able to last maybe five hours in the storm. From what Helen was able to derive from the radars, this storm could last at least four days.

“Helen, how are the shields coming along?” The captain entered the bridge and stood behind the android who was crouched underneath the defense console, wires and sparking plugs surrounded her efforts.

“They’re at 30% strength, captain.” At that moment they heard what must have been a large tree being thrown into the side of the ship, Helen sighed, “Make that 25%.”

Jemma was standing next to the captain with her arms crossed, before Skye could respond she tugged the captain closer and gave her a serious look, “Skye, we are not equipped to handle this storm.” Her tone was grave.

Skye nodded and swept a hand over her forehead, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, “I know.” She paced the bridge a few times, Helen was staring at her as well as Jemma now, “Helen, what are the chances of finding something underground you and Jemma could take shelter in?”

Helen didn’t say anything but glanced up at the ceiling of the cabin, a moment later Alecta’s voice crackled through, “ It would be possible to reinforce a cave about a kilometer away from here, however, it will not be enough without any reinforcement, you’ll have to move your asses if you want to get it safe by the time this storm hits.”

“Okay, that’ll have to do.”

Helen slid out from underneath the console and stood up straight, “I can stay on the ship, try to keep her together as much as I can. I will be able to withstand the storm with minimal amount of help.”

Skye nodded, “I’m not leaving my ship so I’ll stay with you. Jemma, we need to get you to that cave.”

The shorter woman’s eyes flashed, and as Skye made to move out the door Jemma stood in front of her, blocking her path. “There is no way I’m getting to safety while you two risk your life to be with your ship, Skye.”

Skye groaned, “You have no reason to risk your life for the Hula Girl, Jemma.”

Jemma scoffed and held her ground, “I’m not letting you go down with your ship like some cheesy paperback, I’m staying and that’s final. I told you I wouldn’t let you die until you payed me back properly, I’ll stand to my promise.  
”  
“And I promised I’d get you home safe, there is no way I’m letting you stay in danger.”

“Danger!? Where do you think I’ve been in this past month? Danger, that’s where and I regret to inform you that I’m not going anywhere just because you get a little scared.”

The wind had picked up and they were now yelling over the jungle beating against the sides of the ship, “You know, if you haven’t noticed, I kind of like you and I’d like for you to be safe, please, Jemma just go to the cave and wait this thing out.”

“Oh don’t give me that, Skye, I care about you too and you’re not going to get rid of me just because you “like me” .Understand, at this bloody point that we’re going to get out of this together or we’re going down together and you’d better damn well get used to it. I’m staying.” Jemma stomped her foot.

Skye was about to give a retort when a hand with a damp rag slipped over her mouth and she fell limp to the side of the cabin, caught gently and rested on the floor. Before Jemma even had a chance to register what was happening the same hand placed the drugged cloth over her face and she fell as easily as the captain had a moment before.

Helen lowered her gently to the floor next to the captain, stood up, her expression methodical, and set the rag on the edge of one of the consoles.

“You’re too kind, love, if they wanted to argue their way into a tornado then they should have learned their lesson.” Alecta stated, with a hint of a chuckle at the end of the sentence.

Helen smiled, “Perhaps, however, biological organisms tend to get caught up in their emotions, wether or not such expression is beneficial to their survival.”

“Skye will not be happy, you know.”

Helen chuckled, pulling both women easily over her shoulder and standing back up, “Skye understands that sometimes her choices must be overridden if she has been emotionally compromised.”

“Are you coming back to the ship, love?”

“Yes, after I have reinforced their shelter and equipped enough supplies for them to last at least another month.”

Helen had moved to the outer shell of the ship and was about to leave the protection of the Hula Girl when Alecta spoke again, “Be careful.”

“I am always careful, Alecta.”

That caused a laugh from the crackly intercom system, “You are the least careful soul that I know, Helen.”

Helen simply smirked and turned away, Skye and Jemma swinging slightly on her shoulders, unconsceious and unaware of where they were going. Helen walked purposefully into the choppy weather and headed for the cave.

.  
.  
.

“Oh great, that’s just great.” Trip was staring at the planet below them, the one that Skye was supposed to have been, and he noticed immedietly the storms. They were covering almost the entire planet, a bunch of swirling masses of clouds, blocking not only their view but their sensors.

“Do you want me to try to locate them?” Lilly asked calmly. 

“Do you wanna start on the hurricane to the south or the one on the north?” He asked sarcastically,

I believe that the Easter hemishpere would be the best place to begin the ssearch.”

“Wonderful, if she’s even alive.”

“I believe she is alive, Antoine.” Lilly stated in that same ever calm voice that never seemed to influx no matter the situation. 

Trip glanced up, his interest immedietly perked, “How can you tell?” He leaned forward and tried to scan the planet’s surface for anything that he might have missed. 

“There is an adnormally large heat signature, here.” The map was turned and then zoomed at Lilly’s will revealing a red blot on the surface of the planet.”

“Could something natuaral to the planet be causing it?”

“I doubt it based on the database, however, a ship could be reconstructed to emit such a heat signature if one needed to signal for help.”

Trip put a hand on his chin, thinking, “Like an S.O.S..”

“Exactly.” Lilly confirmed. 

“Alright,” Trip said, highlighting the part of the map that was glowing red, “Lets get one of the shuttles reinforced for the conditions and go down there.” Then he added as he was pulling a jacket over his suit, “Lets hope we’re not too late.


	14. A Future They Didn't Expect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye and Jemma wake up trapped in the cave, courtesy of Helen and someone comes to their rescue as the "Hula Girl" is being destroyed by the storm.

“She trapped us in a cave. Helen drugged us and left us.” Skye was staring out of the clear forcefeild that was separating them from the storm which had shown it’s full strength and was now ravaging the landscape. 

Behind her a lifesize holographic recording of Helen was playing on repeat, explaining, in detail, the situation and circumstances that caused her to override the captain’s authority. She explained all of this in a calm and polite voice with a small smile on her face. They had yet to figure out how to turn it off.

Jemma was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed, her head laying in the palm of her hand as she watched the hologram play through then pause and repeat again, “Well, she may be right, we were acting a bit childish, weren’t we?” She had a small stick and was now tracing designs in the dirt, looking rather glum.

The captain glanced behind her, “Yeah, I guess..” She turned around and walked next to where Jemma sat and she settled down next to the shorter woman. “And I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have treated you like that, like your feelings didn’t matter. I was just panicking.” Skye’s eyes followed the small circular designs that Jemma was tracing in the dirt. 

“I know, and I probably should have realized that also.. But I wasn’t going to leave you, and I’m not going to, at LEAST until this--” She swirled the stick in the air, “Is all over.”

“That’s--” Skye thought about it for a few moments, “Really sweet, actually.”

Jemma set the stick down and turned to look at Skye, “I haven’t known you for long and I know we have nothing in common but I still can’t imagine my life without you, I hope you know that.” 

Skye looked away for a moment, realization dawning on her as she thought about everything that had happened and what the future could possibly hold for them, if they even made it out of this.

When she glanced back up her voice was lower, “This isn’t going to go away is it?”

Jemma understood immediately, “No, I don’t think it is.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

The shorter woman laughed and brought her knees up as she marveled at the cave around them, her mind on anything but the surroundings. “I suppose I am.” And then she added with a grin, “But I must warn you, I don’t do anything halfway.”

“I wasn't expecting anything else.”

Jemma had been leaning in closer and closer as they spoke, “Skye, what’s our future going to be like?” she asked it as if it was both a curious and worrying question.

The captain shrugged, “I don’t know, but I’m willing to bet it’s going to be the greatest thing this universe has ever seen.” She winked at the shorter woman.

The librarian’s eyes seemed glazed over as she stared at Skye’s face, alternating between the other woman’s eyes and lips, she giggled and leaned in closer, then added in a slightly drunken voice “Wonderful.” Then she kissed the captain lightly, sweetly, and they stayed like that for a long time.

It was as gentle as the first time, and not nearly as rushed and desperate as the second time, however this time the kiss was a perfect mix of sweet and confident as the two women finally accepted their fate and let the moment take them away.\

.

.

.

Helen stood in the middle of the bridge of the Hula Girl, her demeanor was calm but rigid as the storm ravaged the ship around her. It had already wiped out part of the cargo hold, and Helen had moved the items they stole from the Mockingbird into the hallway of the ship to keep them safe.

However, with every new tree that was thrown into the ship and every new tornado that rocked the vessel, piece by piece the ship was crumbling away around her. Alecta complained about the noise and how inconvenient nature was while also reporting every new piece that was ripped away.

The shields had barely lasted two hours once the actual storm hit and the ship had been vulnerable since then. Helen debated on what the best course of action would be; She could possibly take the loot crate by crate back to the cave and join the other two but even she would only be able to save so much of it before the Hula girl was completely swept away by the storms.

Her processors whirred loudly as she went through every option in her mind that would save everyone and everything that needed to be saved. What sounded like a boulder hit the side of the ship, sending everything but Helen’s balanced form sliding to the left.

Then something hit the other side of the ship, it didn’t sound like the many blunt impacts caused by the storm’s winds, it sounded more metallic and razor like, more like a low powered tractor beam being latched onto the ship. It was followed by Alecta’s voice, shouting over the surrounding chaos, “I think someone’s knocking, Helen.”

The android’s head lifted, her attention caught and she walked diligently towards the ramp of the ship, she overrided the device and it creaked to life. However, the mixture of the wind and the debris kept shoving it back into it’s lock. Helen braced her feet and shoved the ramp down with all of her might, the device cracked and then was subsequenty sucked up into the sky along with anything else that wasn’t tied down.

It was a risk, she knew this, if they were wrong and it was nothing, she will have caused an even bigger vulnerability in the ship than before, if it was someone, but someone they didn’t want to meet, she could have possibly exposed their position and their loot. Helen would have to deal with those consequences if that was the case, however, if it was help responing her S.O.S then this could be their savior.

She squinted into the storm, tryiong to pick up any definite shapes, then she heard a ramp lowering and bright light was emminated through the rain and wind. She smiled as she saw Trip’s form standing on the edge of a ramp, protected by his ship’s no doubt operational force field. He was shining a high powered light in her direction and she waved her arm at him, before making her way, slow and steady, into the storm that a normal person would have been blown away.

It didn’t take her very long before she finally made it to the safety of his small ship, and she walked through the force field, dripping wet and wind swept. It was good, after this entire ordeal to see Trip’s kind smile.

He wasted no time and embraced her, the android returned the act of kindness with a smile, “You have no idea how good it is to see you now, Antoine.”

He pulled away, “You too, Helen, where’s Skye? Is she okay? What the hell happened and why are you on this planet?” He questioned quickly.

She patted him on the arm, “Your questions will be answered soon, first, we have many things to do.” She gestured to the Hula Girl, “I need to get the loot onto your shuttle, is your transporter working?”

He didn’t question further, he trusted that she would handle everything, he nodded, “Yup, here are the tags, I’ll wait for you here.”

She took the tags and stepped out of the safety of the force field and back into the storm.

.

.

.

Skye and Jemma were leaning on the edge of the cave, munching reluctantly on the MREs that Helen left for them when the whiring noise of a ship cut through the already defeaning sounds of the storm outside.

Skye jumped up and ran to the edge of the field, staring out at the storm as close as she could without touching the force field and getting shocked. At the moment she couldn’t see anything but she could still hear the sounds breaking through the rain.

Jemma followed her to the force field, stepping behind her and looking over the taller woman’s shoulder. “What do you think it is?” She asked immedietly.

“I don’t know but it sounds like a ship.” Skye squinted through the rain and debris but so far couldn’t see anything.

“That could either be really good or really bad.” Jemma commented and Skye nodded.

“There!” jemma jumped up and pointed around the captain’s shoulder at the metallic object that was currently deflecting the rain and debris. It was too small to be the Hula Girl and too small for most pirate vessels but that didn’t really confirm anything.

Skye shocked herself on the force field and stumbled backwards slightly, bumping into Jemma whose eyes were locked on the object that seemed to be coming towards them.

It flew close to the entrance of the cave and stopped just a few feet away, the women backed up a few steps as the ship ejected a ramp.

Skye’s face broke into a smile, “Helen!” Her shoulder’s relaxed as the android moved down the ramp and began disabling the force field around the entrance of the cave so far not ackowledging their presence. Skye grabbed on to Jemma’s hand and gave it a comforting squeeze.

The forcer field fell and a barrage of rain and wind and bits of jungle began to bombard the women. Helen reached out a hand and pulled the two women into the shield’s protection.

Skye laughed and ran into the interior of the ship, Trip was standing in the bridge, his arms out stretched, “Trip you amazing son a of a bitch!” She yelled as she ran and wrapped her arms around his neck, he returned the hug tightly.

The ramp raised and Jemma stood just inside the ship, her hands held in front of her shyly as Skye and Trip exchanged greetings. She noticed immediately how clean this pod was, even with the honestly crowded environment of crates and barrels, it resembled that of a luxury shuttle. 

“What the hell happened, Skye?” Trip asked, practically laughing  
.  
Skye wiped away the rain water that had dripped from her hair and she sighed dramatically, “It’s a long story, but man, am I happy to see you.”

Trip scoffed, “I bet—“

“Wait, what about the Hula Girl?” Skye cut him off and the mood in the shuttle immediately shifted from celebratory to solemn.

Helen walked up and put a hand on the captain’s shoulder, “We could not save her, Skye.”

“I’m sorry, Skye.” Trip offered but the captain’s face fell and she looked away from the group, she wanted to cry at the loss of her ship but at the same time she knew that it was amazing that they were alive and saved.

Skye walked past the group, trying to keep her breathing even, her arms flew to the top of her head and she kicked one of the crates in a violent burst of emotion. "Shit!" She cursed, closing her eyes and nor looking at the others.

"My fucking Ship.." In something akin to disbelief.

"The loss of the Hula Girl is in no way reflecting on your abilities as a Captain, Skye, please understand this." Helen spoke calmly but firmly. 

 

"Well, it's kind of hard not to feel that way!" Skye snapped and she immedietly regretted it, then she added more softly, "I'm sorry that was childish of me."

"You're allowed to have your reaction, Skye." Jemma spoke up foor the first time. 

The captain smiled at her humorlessly, "Thanks but I'll finish having this reaction later, we're alive and safe and that's all that matters, right?"

Jemma made to move to Skye and Trip held out a tentative hand to stop her, she looked back at him and nodded reasuringly, saying softly, "It's alright."

Jemma walked up and pulled an arm around her waste comfortingly, Skye took a deep breath, and raised her head, her composer coming back to her, “She was an amazing ship, and she got me out of more scraps than I can count.”

“She’ll be missed.” Trip added and the group nodded together, then Trip added, changing the subject, “And who's your friend? You haven't introduced us” He asked, motioning to the librarian.

Skye gave a small smile and wrapped herself around the shorter woman sweetly, “This is Dr. Jemma Simmons. I kiddnapped her and now I'm in love with her.”

The librarian blushed slightly and held out a hand, Trip took it good naturedly, laughing “Dr. Antoine Triplet, it’s nice to meet you Dr. Simmons. I’m assuming you’re the cause for all of this chaos.” He added with a wink.

Jemma chuckled, “I suppose I am, Dr. Triplet.”

He smiled, “You must be someone pretty damn special to have caused this much of an uproar. Oh, and call me Trip. Being uptight and formal isn’t my style.”

Skye held on to the shorter woman protectively, “She is Trip. She’s very special.”

“Well—“ Trips said as he truned around to check on the course the ship was taking them on autopilot, “I’m glad you’ve been productive while all this has been happening.” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Hey, a girl’s gotta live.”

“And no one lives quite like you, do they?”

Skye didn't answer but let go of Jemma and moved to sit next to where Trip was stationary at the controls of the shuttle. “And how bad of a fuss had Morse made over this?” Mentioning the happening’s that Trip had refered to a bit ago.

Trip actually laughed at that, “Morse? She’s the least of your problems, how long have you been cut off from everything out here? You starting to forget what it’s really like out here?”

Skye’s face dropped, “What do you mean?”

“Well, you know how she sent The Widow after you?”

Skye nodded,

“The information got out about your bounty. Not only are tons of small time pirates hoping that your capture’ll be their big break but Wards after you, Skye.” Trip's tone was grave.

Skye cursed, “You’re kidding me?”

“No, he came to Sye'Heit looking for you. He thought I was hiding you.”

“He didn’t hurt anyone did he?” Skye sounded angry at the thought but Trip reassured her quickly.

“No, everyone’s fine, but we’re barely surviving down there.” Trip glanced at the cargo the convered the shuttle.

“Right.” Skye shook her head sharply, “We’ll go to Tah-Who first then and drop the cargo. Your ship can hold the supplied right? I mean, you got more than this?”

“Of course. What about Dr. Simmons? What are you going to do about that situation?”

Skye’s voice dropped down nearly to a whisper, “I don’t know what she wants to do.”

Trip copied her voice and tone, “What, you mean, this is like—“ He pointed between the two woman, “Like a thing?”

Skye didn’t look at him, “Yeah, I think it’s a “Thing”.” 

He chuckled, and held up his hand, Skye gave him a begrudging high five and settled down next to him at the consoles, looking back only for a moment to glance at Jemma.

Helen was leaning up against one of the cargo crates, her expression mild. However, Jemma’s face suddenly dawned with recognition and she practically fell on top of the android, “Helen, what about Alecta?” She cried, concern lining her face.

Helen chuckled and put a hand up, “She is fine, don’t worry.” Then she held up her hand with the palm up, laying next to her fingers was a small circuit chip, only about the size of a nickel. “We had many back ups in case of emergencies such as this, Alecta’s conscience, her memories, and her soul are on here, easy to transport and safe as long as I am holding her.” Helen retracted her hand and put it calmly back in her lap.

Jemma’s shoulder’s relaxed and she put a hand over her heart, “Oh, that’s wonderful. I’m sorry I panicked, I suppose I am just a little on edge after this ordeal.” She took a seat on the crate next to Helen.

“That is understandable, and thank you for your concern.”

Trip looked back at the women in the back, he was holding a switch down just above his head, “We’re about to board the Nenuphar, my ship, it’ll be a lot more comfortable there, I promise.”

For the first time during the journey they actually felt like they were moving, Trip’s shuttle was incredibly smooth and after so long riding in the Hula Girl, it might as well have been standing still.

Skye stood up, patted her friend on the back and walked to where her tiny crew was sitting. She walked up to Helen, her face sincere, and she held out her arms. The android returned the act of affection and embraced the captain.

None of them had realized how alone and stranded they felt on that planet, and although they all kept hope alive very well, even at the end, there was still that forboding sense of fear and tension hanging over their heads. Now that It was gone they could all feel the weight being lifted from their shoulders.

“I’m sorry you had to do that.” Skye was searching Helen’s eyes for some kind of forgiveness, something that she immedietly found.

“I did only what I had to do to keep you human’s safe.” She chuckled, then added, “I suppose Alecta’s attitude has been rubbing off on me so to speak.”

Skye looked at Jemma, “You’re going to love The Nenuphar, Jem, Trip’s been working on this ship for a long time and it’s amazing.”

The librarian stood up to stand next to the captain and she added, “You said that about the Hula Girl if I recall.”

Skye laughed, “This time I promise, this ship is 1st class. “Trip, we ready to move?” She looked back and asked as the shuttle slowed down they heard it locking into the ship.

“We’re here, ladies.” The Doctor announced to the women in the back. 

He stretched and yawned; Although it had not been a very long trip from the planet's surface to the Nenuphar, they were all exhausted and ready for a sanctuary, for a little while at least. 

Trip moved to the door and punched in a code into the control panel, the door slid open as the women stood up and began to follow him onto his ship. 

However, when the door opened Trip's face fell in an expression of shock and he took an automatic step backwards, holding his hands up.

"Trip, what is it, man?" Skye moved to his side, however, when she looked out the door she had a reaction very similar to the doctor's and she pulled her hand's back also.

The two took a few steps back as heavy and confident footsteps came closer to the door of the shuttle door. A moment later Ward walked through the small opening, prompting a confused gasp from Jemma.

He looked around with that same arrogent smirk that showed his teeth and winked at the librarian. "It's good to see you, Antoine, and hey, thanks for finding these two for me, I'm sure your counsel's going to be real happy that I've caught you dead with two known fugitives.

He clicked his tongue as if he were cooing a baby and added, "Oh don't act so surprised, you know I always get my man."


	15. The Silver Tongue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team are captured by Ward and his men, they end up meeting a few new possible allies and Jemma gets violent.

“How the fuck did you get onto my ship, Ward?” Trip had his hands up but he was snarling at the bounty hunter and his pack of ten or so goons with covered faces that were all pointing, no doubt, loaded guns at the small crew.

“We’ve been following you for a while, Antoine. It’s not that hard when you’ve got the highest spy equipment that the great Empire of O-Nah has to offer.” He chuckled, and turned his attention to Skye, “SO you’re the one that’s caused all of this trouble?”

Skye grimaced at him, her face turning away from his condescending stare, she didn’t’ speak, She glanced momentarily at Jemma who seemed to be frozen in shocked suspension, she didn’t know who this man was and she really didn’t want to know.

Jemma took a step forward, her hands raised and his eyes flashed toward her, “And you, sweetie, come here, we’re here to take you home.” He held out a hand and smiled devilishly,

“I don’t know who you are—“ She took a gulp of breath, “But I can assure you that this is all just a huge misunderstanding. I’m here of my free will, there’s no need to hurt anybody, they didn’t do anything.” She moved in front of Skye waiting for his response.

He seemed to think for a moment, then he laughed and Jemma’s face scrunched in confusion, “That’s great, Dr. Simmons, whatever you say, now come with me so we can get you home.”

The librarian seemed to lose her cool at this and she put her hands down to her side, “Excuse me, I should have some say in this, I want to stay with them at least until their trial.”

Ward again, laughed at her suggestion and mumbled back to his men with a grin, “Stoh’Vir” There was a round of silent laughter through the ranks of his gun wielding men before Ward turned back to the small crew, “Get them.”

The moment he said that there was a flurry of movement as Jemma immediately protested and about five men with guns moved forward to detain them, grabbing both Trip and Skye from the back and pushing them forward, kicking and jerking their bodies in protest.

The atmosphere was loud and chaotic with shouts of “Hey, fuck you, man!” and “Get your hands off of me!”

Jemma grabbed for them and one of Ward's men moved to take her, grabbing her wrist and pulling her down off of the shuttle with little effort. She spat at him and kicked him violently in the shin as she wrestled her way out of his grip and ran back towards the shuttle.

She ran into Helen’s arms and the android, now noticeably angry pulled the small woman behind her and moved forward to fight the guards. Before she could do any damage Ward lifted up a stun gun and shot her square in the chest. The yellow flash threw a flood of electricity through her circuits and she stopped mid step. Her body jerking wildly as she fell to the floor stiffly with a loud thud.

Ward motioned with his head to her frozen and wide eyed body, “Get whatever she’s holding.”

He had to call over Skye’s screaming profanities as she was being drug away roughly with Trip. The captain screamed as they drug her down the cargo bay and the exiting hall, “Jemma, be careful! They’ll hurt you! These are bad people, please be careful!” She called out before one of the masked drones pulled a hand over her mouth and she started trying to bit him through his glove.

One of the men moved forward to pull what Helen had lodged in the palm of her hand, Jemma yelled, “No!” And leapt forward before he could get to the deactivated android, she pulled the chip out of her hand and held it to her chest. “It’s mine, leave it alone!” She screamed, tears running down her face.

The masked man glanced back at his Captain; Ward shrugged it off, letting him know to let her have it. The man moved to grab Jemma again and she pushed him away, walking past him, clutching the chip possessively.

She let herself be pushed toward Ward, Skye and Trip were now out of her sight and she was completely alone. She glared at his smiling face, he raised an eyebrow, “You need to be more grateful, lady.”

At that she spat in his face again. Ward wiped it away and leaned in extremely close to her face, “Don’t push me, If-Et’Tah.” He growled menacingly, Then he added in a sickeningly calm voice “I can make you disappear. I’ll tell your family they killed you when you acted out.”

She looked away, noticeably shocked by what he said and she was pushed forward by the masked man. The man looked behind him, no doubt speaking to him telepathically, Ward nodded without a word, then he added, more for Jemma’s benefit than his officer, “Take her down to the quarters. Lock her in.”

The small woman sniffled as she was pushed away by the faceless man and he guided her through some of Trip’s ship, which was being destroyed by Ward’s men, and through a tunnel bridge onto Ward’s massive war vessel.

His ship was as cold and stiff as she would have expected, the walls were a practical color of gray and there seemed to be people hiding in the corners, at least on the floor that she was on. They sat on the benches that looked like imitation rock and watched as she was led through the halls.

The masked man, yelled something at one of the cowering people, a young woman with her head shaved, who was standing near the air lift, “Ton’Gus!” He snapped and the girl jumped and moved out of their way. Jemma didn’t know what that word meant but judging by his tone, it probably wasn’t a good word. She barely got a look at her face before she moved off, her head down and not looking at the masked man and Jemma.

Jemma’s heart was still pounding in her chest and she had the distinct feeling that she couldn’t breath properly.

They got into the lift and moved up several floors, Jemma counted 38, before it stopped and she was, again, pushed into another hallway. This one resembled the one before however, instead of those scattered people in the corners, there were pairs of Ward’s men guarding every door with guns.

The guards, whose mouths and noses were covered, glared at the small woman suspiciously as they moved past them. The guard and Jemma finally stopped at one of the doors in the middle of the hallway that seemed to stretch on for miles.

The door slid open and without so much as a grunt or a word, the masked man shoved Jemma inside, shut the door and left her in the middle of a dark room. She heard the computer buzz and then state “Authorize a lock down of room 2246.”

Jemma slid down next to what she assumed was the edge of a bed, to the floor and pulled her knees up to her chest with a small whimper. She stayed like that in the dark for at least 20 minutes before she finally attempted to stand and look around.

She couldn’t see anything beyond the white floor under her feet, and she glanced around before ordering the computer, “Lights.” She demanded. Nothing happened.

She tried again, “Lights, please.” Again, the lights did not come on and the computer did not give any reason or acknowledgment.

She sighed angrily and kicked the edge of the bed before dropping back dow to the floor with a sniff. She opened her hand and looked at the chip in her palm, she had no way of telling if Helen was even alive or what these people could be doing to Skye and Trip.

She tried not to think about it, she closed her eyes and her hand and tried to breathe. She had been kidnapped for a second time, and this time, she promised herself, she was stronger than she was the first time.

.

.

.

 

Skye was shoved harshly into a cell along with Trip a moment later, they fell to the floor and the young captain immediately tried to aim a kick at one of the masked men. “You know what, fuck you! You people are everything that’s wrong with the universe! I hope you get eaten by a Mon’F’Eth!” She called after them as they walked away without a comment.

Skye continued to yell at them until Trip put a hand on her shoulder, “They don’t know what you’re saying, Skye.”

She made a loud “Pfft” noise and stood up angrily. They had been stripped of all their weapons and technology and thrown into what appeared to be an entire floor dedicated just to holding cells.

The cells were all about 6’ft wide and 8’Ft long, they resembled the rest of the ship in the sense that they still had the dull white, glass like floors. Every cell had one cot, one toilet, and were surrounded by darker Grey bars.

Skye scoffed at the bars containing them, “A literal Jail cell? What is this? Twentieth Century Earth?” She made to grab the bars but the field that surrounded them shocked her and she fell backwards, the second time she had been shocked that day. “Just for aesthetic, then, fair enough.”

She remained on the floor, after her attempt to touch the sides. Trip sighed and pulled a hand over his face with a groan, “We fucked up, Skye, we fucked up big time.”

The captain nodded.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know they were following me. I swear.”

She moved over and patted his back, “I know you wouldn’t do this on purpose, Trip. These guys don’t play fair.”

He agreed, then said, staring at the dull white floor which would have surely made someone go mad if they had to look at it for too long, “You know if they don’t kill us, we’re going to an O’Nah prison right? My diplomatic immunity don’t mean shit anymore.”

Skye brushed him off. “We’re not going to die, and we’re not going to prison, we’re going to get out of here.”

“Oh yeah—“ Trip began, “And what’s your brilliant plan?”

“I’m thinking. I’m thinking.” 

Skye rolled over and then promptly screamed as she came face to face with another prisoner that was in the cell next to them. Whoever it was didn’t scream or react, she was a I’Nek woman, she displayed the species' customary pink skin, small ears and big, watery eyes, she was about the same size as an average I’Nek as well, bordering on 4’7. 

“Holy shit you scared me!” Skye yelled at the strange prisoner, the I’Nek didn’t answer and instead and tilted her head, staring intently at the captain with her large eyes. 

There was a chuckled behind the stranger and Skye and Trip looked up at the man sitting on his stone bed on the opposite wall. He was an incredibly tall and well built black human and he smirked over at the newcomers.

“Sorry about Ku'ut, her translator was broken when we were captured, and they haven’t given me the tools to fix it.” He voice was deep and his demeanor was pleasant despite the fact that they were obviously in a situation similar to that of Skye and Trip.

Skye shook her head, “Yeah, yeah, I’ve met a few I’Nekes, she just startled me.”

Ku’ut tapped the floor of their cells in three consecutive patterns, her nails then digging into the hard floor, making an extremely unpleasant sound. Trip and Skye covered their ears. 

The large man was the only one who apparently understood whatever it was that she was saying, he rolled his eyes, “I’m not telling them that, Ku’ut, I told you if you wanna stop getting arrested you need to be nice to other people.”

The I’Nek made another unpleasing screech on the floor and the man groaned and mumbled, “Whatever.” Under his breath. 

At this he stood up and walked to the edge of the cell, Skye and Trip stood up to meet him there, he smiled kindly, “I’m Mack, and this is my partner “Ku’ut, I’d shake your hands but as you can see, that’s a little redundant right now.”

The two on the other side glanced at each other but Skye gave their introductions anyway and Mack nodded, “Nice to meet you. So what are you in here for? What’d you do to piss off the O’Nahn empire?”

Skye sighed, “I robbed one of their vessels and kidnapped a passenger. And you two?”

Mack chuckled, “Ku’ut and I’ve been disabling slave vessels and transporting people over empire lines.” He seemed rather proud of their accomplishments. 

“But you got caught?” Trip inferred. 

Mack’s face fell, “Yeah. We got caught. But hey I figured we could get out of this somehow, I mean, it’s not like they’re ranks are impenetrable. And with you two, I figure our chances just doubled.”

Skye glanced at Trip and they both raised an eyebrow, “You’re pretty trusting for someone we just met two minutes ago.”

“You wanna get out of here or not?”

They didn’t answer and after a couple minutes, Skye spoke up, “So, what, you’re the muscle and she’s the brains?” She asked with a touch of amusement.

Mack lowered his head with a sigh in an expression that could only be described as disappointment, “I’m the engineer. She’s security.”

.

.

.

 

Jemma jumped as the door to her room that had previously been sealed shut slid open, she jumped up ready to fight or at least yell. A young woman, much younger than the librarian, stood in the doorway holding a tray that had food and water on it. 

Jemma took a step back. This young girl, probably 14 or 15 was definitely not one of Ward’s people, in fact she looked more like one of his prisoners, especially since, like the rest, her head was shaved. 

The girl didn’t speak but she walked in and offered the tray to Jemma, when she didn’t take it, the girl leaned over and set it down on a table. She stood back up and Jemma stopped her, “Wait--” The girl stopped and looked back, from the doorway two masked men were checking in suspiciously, Jemma paused for a moment, “What’s your name?” She tried. 

The girl looked confused and nervous, “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you. My name’s Jemma.”

The girl thought about it, “22701” She stated, her voice small much like her stature. 

Jemma shook her head, “No, darling, I mean your real name.”

The girl looked up, “Nueh'Nah.”

Jemma sat down on the bed with her hands in front of her, “Oh my, that’s a beautiful name. Would you like to talk? I’m very lonely in here.”

The girl blushed but she gave the older woman a nervous smile and Jemma glowed, “Now there’s that smile.”

The girl looked away, smiling, and Jemma patted the spot on the bed next to her, “Tell me about yourself? I could use the company.”

The girl thought about it for a moment but then came closer and sat tensely on the end of the bed next to the older woman. Jemma smiled sweetly, “Now, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I was sent to give you food and Lii’Fi’Qui.” She stated truthfully. 

“And I want to thank you for that.” Nue simply nodded and looked away so Jemma continued trying yo coax the child into conversation, “I don’t like this ship very much, what about you?”

The girl moved closer to the librarian and murmured just audible, “No one does.”

Jemma was about to speak again when the door slid open and both of them jumped, Nueh’nah stood up and immediately went to the front corner. For a moment Jemma became excited at the the thought of it being Skye and Trip coming to get her out of here. However her hope’s weren’t realized as Ward stepped into her room and the librarian stood up to face him. 

He glanced to where Nueh’Nah was standing and Jemma had the sudden urged to run up and punch him, He jerked his head to the side and the young girl walked behind him and out the door, she gave Jemma a small glance before she went out of sight. 

Ward smiled at her, “I’m sorry about that whole display out there, that was unprofessional of me. It’s just you should try to be more grateful, we did, in fact, save your life and I know you’re in shock but you need to calm down, okay?”

Jemma looked utterly confused, “You didn’t-- I wasn’t-- I want to see them. I told you I want to stay with them.”

Ward moved past her and sat down on the edge of the bed, “That can’t be arranged. You’re delirious.”

She looked sideways at the Bounty Hunter, “Morse will not be happy about the way you’ve treated me, here.” She threatened, she knew it sounded a bit like tattling but Bobbie was the only piece of leverage that she had against him. 

He chuckled and stood up, “Morse is no better than your friends. She’s out of the picture.” he informed her with a cocky grin. 

She looked away from him, he patted her arm and moved past her, “Don’t worry, you’ll be home soon.”

He started out the door, Jemma turned around then grabbed one of the rounded ornaments on a table, she turned around and lifted her arm to strike him on the back of the head. She was mid swing when he bolted around and grabbed her wrist. 

She dropped the object and struggled against her grip, he lifted up her face with his other hand and said in the same sickeningly sweet voice, “Now, now, Dr. Simmons, don’t make me have to put you in hyper sleep to calm your delirious state.” He let her go and she backed away, clutching at her wrist, “Now, get some sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stoh'Vir - In love with a criminal  
> If'Et'Tah- Of earth  
> Mon'F'Eth- A large carnivore that resembles a rock formation and crushes it's victims to death  
> Lii'Fi'Qui- Water  
> Ku'ut- Pronounced like cut  
> Ton'Gus- Those who speak with their throats (Deragatory)


	16. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is trying to escape from Ward's power and an update on Bobbie's situation.

“Hold On, Jem, we’re going to get you out of here, I promise you.”Skye was laying on her side, messing with the wires in a small panel that even her wrists could barely fit in. She was on the uncomfortable cot that looked like rock and pretending to be asleep while she worked. 

Trip was next to her, sitting on the floor attempting to look bored when in reality he was watching everything extremly close. Waiting for guards to come by and look in and also waiting for Mack to give him the kill signal. 

Mack, who was even able to impress Skye with his abilities, had created a portable connection using only what Skye and Trip had smuggled in and anything they were able to pick up from the guards during their random searches. He was using his crude device to mess with the video systems but it would only work for a little while before he would have to give the kill signal to Trip who would then tap Skye and she would stop her work on the paneling. 

This was the closest simblance to a plan that they had at the moment. If they could get the door open then they were relying on their abilities to incapacitate the guards and get out of there alive. 

They had been doing this plan for about three days and all of their patiences were wearing thin. 

Ku’ut tapped the floor two times with her long nails, Skye still had trouble understanding the complexities of her language but she knew that definitely meant “Hurry up.”. Skye glared back at her and then immedietly went back to work on the wires in the panel. She had only been back at it for about a minute when she felt the pending tap on her lower back. She closed her eyes and rolled her head back, hearing the guard’s heavy boots strolling by slowly. 

The boots paused in front of their cell and Skye’s heart dropped, she tried her best to look relaxed and asleep but she couldn’t stop the tension in her shoulders. She jumped when Trip tapped her side again, this time slightly harder. 

“Hey, you’ve been on there long enough. It’s my turn.” He explained in a fake annoyed voice, just loud enough for the guard to hear. 

Skye rolled over and pretended to yawn, putting on her best offended face, she slid down to the floor as Trip moved to take her place on the bed. The guard, apparently satisfied by this exchange , moved on down the hallway. 

When they were alone again, Ku’ut clicked loudly a few times, kicking the side of the wall. She had taken to pacing back and forth in their small cell. 

Skye glanced at Mack, it annoyed her that she couldn’t communicate with someone that she was potentially trusting with her life, “What did she say?”

“She said, ‘This is taking forever’” He explained.

Skye looked directly at the I'Nek, “I know, but this is the only chance we’ve got.”

The I'Nek made several more tapping, and clicking noises. Skye didn’t even have to ask before Mack translated, “She said, ‘Human’s always make things so complicated. It annoys her.”

“Does she have a better idea?” Skye asked, tilting her head directly at Ku’ut.

The tiny woman’s face broke out into a grin, showing off her sharp insizors and the short third row of teeth. She screetched on the floor and Mack’s head rolled back, he looked at Skye, “You just had to challenge her, didn’t you?”

.

.

.

Nueh’nah slipped into Jemma’s dark room, despite the librarian’s complaining, no one had given her the authorization code to turn the lights on, apparently they were afraid she’d try to use the lights to escape.

But they were wrong, Jemma was perfectly capable of planning and executing her S.O.S and escape with only the lights that she created for herself. With the help of the Naht'Wuna, of course.

Jemma glanced up from where she was standing on a table at the edge of the door as the girl walked in. She offered the woman a small metal wire that she had smuggled away.

“Thank you so much.” Jemma took the wire and used it to recalibrate the door’s sensors. Nueh’Nah stayed and watched her, unsure of what she was doing but very insistant on helping.

Jemma handed her things and the girl kept them until she needed them again, they had been working for a while when Jemma finally stopped and looked down at the girl. She looked so small and her hands always seemed to be shaking, Jemma sighed.

“Let’s take a break, shall we? Get something to eat?”

Nueh’nah backed away to give her room to step down and followed her to the bed, Jemma sat down and began to half her food , putting some of it on one side and keeping some for herself.

This had become their routine for the few days Jemma had been stuck in this room. Nueh’nah had been risking her own skin to bring Jemma the supplies that she needed and then they would sit on the bed and talk. Nueh’nah had finally begun to come out of her shell and Jemma had become rather fond of the child.

Ward let this happen since Jemma made an absolute fuss when he sent in a guard to give her food and she threw it back in his face and screamed at him. After that, they just let Nueh’nah give her food and come and go.

“Will it be ready soon?” The girl asked, taking a bite of her bread.

“It should be soon, I just have a few more tweeks to do and then it should be ready for when Skye and Trip get out.”

“You seem so sure that they will escape, what if they don’t?”

Jemma chuckled, “Oh they’ll be trying to escape, trust me. There is absolutely no way Skye is just sitting in there biding her time. And when they get out we need to make sure that we have a way out.”

“Oh.” Nueh’nah nibbled on the rice.

Jemma looked up, “I want you to know that I couldn’t have done this without you. I know you’ve literally been risking your life for a stranger and I truly appreciate the risk you’re taking.” The librarian was staring at her seriously but the girl was still looking down.

She nodded in response but didn’t say anything unti, she asked, “Where will you go when you escape?”

Jemma thought about it for a moment, “I don’t know, perhaps back to Tah’woh.”

Nueh’nah made a scruntched up face of disgust and Jemma laughed, “What is it?”

“Tah’woh is terrible! It’s dirty and the sky is always covered, you don’t want to go there.” She explained.

“Really now?” Jemma pulled her legs underneath her and stared at the girl curiously, “I’ve never been there.”

Nueh’nah nodded, “Yes, it’s not very beautiful and the water is black, You should go to Bellamane.”

“Bellamane?” Jemma genuinely didn’t know the place.

“I’ve heard it’s the most beautiful planet in the universe that the sky is pink and the water looks like glass and the people sleep all day and dance all night.”

Jemma didn’t know if this place was real or if it was someplace that this young girl had made up, perhaps to counter the reality of her situation.

“That sounds wonderful!”

Nueh’nah nodded, “If you—When you escape, could you go there for me? Maybe you could tell me about it someday?”

The child’s eyes were glossy and wide, making her look much younger than she actually was, Jemma stared at the girl curiously, “Well, you can see it for yourself. I’m not leaving you here after all you’ve done for me, silly!”

Nueh’nah’s face lit up and she lunged at Jemma, enveloping her in a hug, the librarian laughed and clung on to her.

“Really!?”

“Yes, of course! If you’re brave enough to go.”

“I am! I promise!” Nueh’nah didn’t let go of the older woman for a long while.”

.

.

.

“Whoops, my bad.” Bobbie apologized to the dead body of the head of security as she accidentally stepped on her fingers. She hopped over the other two bodies, one had been shot in the struggle, one Morse had suffocated, and the other she had electrocuted. It wasn’t her cleanest job but it definitely got the job done.

She stretched and yawned, her body was still stiff from being in the prisoners pod as she had to wait days for the perfect moment to take them out. Which had finally come and she had that distince rush of adrenaline that she missed a lot more than she thought she had when she had gone straight.

She moved through the security vessel and sat down at the controls, looking over the data displayed. They were almost to O’nah when she had escaped and killed them and they were still on a bee line course for the planet’s capitol city.

She tutted the computer and punched in new coordinates, “Not going anywhere near there, let’s get the hell out of here.” She mumbled to herself.

It was going to take them at least another 2 to 3 days before the captitol sent reinforcements to help their people. Bobbie planned to be way out of the O’Nahn galaxy by the time that happened.

She didn’t know where the hell she was going from here but for the first time in nearly three years, she took a breath and felt free.

.

.

.

“AND WHOSE FAULT IS IT THAT WE’RE IN HERE!?” Mack screamed loudly at his partner, she screetched back and him, making the two in the cell next to them cover their ears.

“Oh no you did not just say that!?” A moment later Ku’ut and Mack were exchanging blows. And between his size and her speed, the fight caused the whole floor to shake.

Trip and Skye eyes widened and they backed away from the brawl. A second later about five guards were running to the cell, sporting stun batons and yelling incoherently at the two fighting.

They opened the cage door and began pulling them apart, Mack and Ku’ut continued to reach and grab for each other’s throats. It took the guards nearly five minutes to pull them apart, they pushed them back into separate corners and yelled at them until they put their hands on the tops of their heads.

The guards continued to yell at them as they seemed to calm down, standing nearly at attention. Skye and Trip were confused, but then Mack and Ku’ut exchanged a quick glance.

A moment later Mack had pulled the stun baton out of two of the guard’s hands and Ku’ut had jumped nearly five feet straight into the air landing on top of one of the faceless guard’s heads. Before any of them could react, she had stabbed her long nails into their heads.

Her feet clung on to their necks and she jumped from man to man until all five had dropped to the floor dead, blood pooling around their bodies.

Skye and Trip had given each other a nervous glance. Mack handed one of the stun baton’s to Ku’ut, he was rubbing his jaw, “I told you not to hit for real.” The small alien shrugged innocently and began to strip the guards.

They put the uniforms on, including the masks which covered their faces, a second later they were outside of Skye and Trip’s cell, opening the door and handing them two more slightly bloodied uniforms.

Skye took it with a grin, “I stand corrected.” She said, looking at Ku’ut.

“This should help us get away, at least for a little while, we need to get some better weapons and we need to get to the Nenuphar.” Mack explained, already accessing the ship’s blueprints.

“Wait, we need to get Jemma first.” Skye interrupted and Mack looked at her strangely,

“Why? He’s not going to hurt her,”

“He might if we get away, he’s going to need someone to pin this on, and I’m not leaving her here with him.” Skye stated, in a final descision voice.

The others sighed, “How are we even going to find her?”

Skye looked around Mack’s shoulder at the blue prints, she hit a few buttons and then suddenly her eyes lit up, “That’s my girl.” She said, pointing to the lit up corridors in the maintenance sections behind the walls, they lead a perfect map through the ship to one specific room, they also showed the way out.

Skye patted Trip on the shoulder, “Lets go! We don’t have much time.”

They moved through the ship as a unit, trying as hard as possible not to look suspicious which wasn’t very easy given how much of a hurry they were in. Skye followed the lights from the blueprints, the other three following her, soldier like and stoic.

The lift had just stopped on the floor that Jemma was on when alarms began going off all around the ship, someone had found the bodies and the empty cells. Now they really didn’t have any time.

Skye ditched trying to look calm and sprinted down the hallway, before she could get to the room, Jemma had exited her quarters, alerted because of the alarms and knowing that it was time to get out.

She looked both ways, she found Skye running towards her from the right, her face broke into a smile and she ran toward her, Nueh’nah was close on her heels. They met in the middle, Skye swung her around and knowing that they didn’t have the time to catch up, grabbed her hand and ran down the corridor, following the route that Jemma had planned out.

Skye glanced back at the girl as they ran and looked at Jemma.

“This is Nueh’nah, she’s coming with us.” Jemma said as she ran, talking through heavy breaths.

“Yeah I picked up a couple new people too.” Skye explained, holding on to Jemma’s hand tightly. Jemma looked behind them to where Mack and Ku’ut were running next to Trip.

They made their way through the ship, Jemma had mapped out the least used routes through the ship but the guards were still hot on their tails. Finally they made it to the transporter room, they were going to have to hack both the Sliver tongue’s systems and the nenuphar’s systems in order to transport themselves out. It was risky to transport while the ships were moving but it was a risk that they were willing to take.

They had been able to confuse the sensors and now the army of men were pillaging about somewhere else on the ship. Skye and Mack both ran to the console of the transporter and began pushing their way into the system. Nueh’nah was holding on to Jemma for dear life.

“Here put these tags on.” Makc threw two tags to Ku’ut and Trip, they oblidged and a second later they were gone, moved to the bridge of the Nenuphar.

“Alright—“ Skye hit a few more buttons and then moved away from the console, going to where the other two woman were standing, Mack moved past her and put a tag on himself.

Skye handed Nueh’nah and Jemma the tags, “Okay, lets get out of here.” She said calmly, “I don’t know about you but I’m getting—“

She stopped, her eyes went wid as a blast from a laser hit her side with enough force to knock her off to the side. Jemma screamed, and Mack moved to help Skye.

“Don’t even think about it.” Ward was standing in the doorway; gun in hand with a satisfied smile on his face. “Move to the side or I’ll shoot you too.”

Mack put his hands up and back away, Skye was struggling on the ground, blood was pouring from her wound and her body was shaking but she was still attempting to stand up.

A massive group of guards pushed their way in behind Ward and detained Mack. Jemma moved to Skye, the captain reached out a hand for the other woman. Jemma grabbed her fingers, tears running down her face and she moved to help her before Ward’s hand pushed her away.

He tutted at the librarian, a guard grabbed Jemma’s arms and pulled them behind her back, she struggled against them.

Ward looked down at Skye and shook his head, “Next time don’t be so stupid, kid.”

Skye used the last of her strength to flip him off before her pushed her to the ground and ordered his men to take her away. Jemma couldn’t do anything as they took Skye’s limp body away, she had her hand over her mouth and her eyes were wide and red. 

Skye forced out a strangled, "Jemma..." as they took her away.

Ward motioned for the girl, “Take the traitor.” Nueh’nah whimpered as five more men walked toward her, but they never got close as the older woman pushed her back and stood between them. 

“Don’t you dare.” She snarled, the men didn’t seem to care and she had to hold her ground as they tried to psuh past her, she kicked one in the crotch and pushed another into a wall. She was so short compared to all of them and they all looked like they could snap her in half without much effort. That didn’t stop her from puting up a fight.

“They’re getting her over my dead body, Ward.” She called over to the captain of the Silver tongue. 

He sighed and put a hand over his face in irritation, “Let her be.” He practically groaned out, “God, you’re such a pain in the ass. keep her for all I care.”

The men backed off but Jemma stayed in her fighting position, keeping a hand on the girl behind her. Ward looked away as the transporter was activated and a moment later, Trip and Ku’ut appeared, struggling against their captors. The small woman was screeching and kicking against what looked like at least five steel enforced nets that wrapped her body up tight.

“Trip, he shot her!” Jemma cried out, pointing down the hallway that they had taken Skye, “Ward shot her, Trip, help her!” The libraian had begun crying again despite her efforts to hold it back. 

Trip’s eyes widened and he mumbled something underneath the hand that was holding his mouth, he began thrashing his head until the hand let him go, “Let me see her!” He cried at Ward, the bounty hunter didn’t answer, “I’m a doctor, let me see her! Goddammit, Grant you don’t want her dying on your ship.”

Ward looked up at his struggling form finally, “What do I care?” 

Trip’s face fell and he was pushed away and out of sight.

Ward sighed and looked to Jemma who was grasping the girl’s hand tightly, “We’re here, you’re going home whether you want to or not. Move her to transport, he pointed to his men and they pushed both Jemma and Nueh’nah forward. 

From there they were moved from one ship to another, “The Mockingbird” She was shuffled through security and through the crew that had met her before this whole thing had started. She stood behind Ward as he talked with the new captain, a young woman named rose, the officer thanked him for his services and gave him his ridiculously large amount of money, before he finished talking with the captain, he told her that Nueh’nah was a gift for Jemma. 

Jemma’s face was blank while they exchanged good byes and Ward moved in front of her looking down at her with a satisfied look on his face. 

“Don’t look so glum, sweet heart, this is the best thing for you, I promise.” And he made to walk away. 

Jemma stopped him and said in a low, dangerous voice, “If I ever see you again, I’ll kill you.”


	17. Lian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jemma is treated to only the best on the Mockinbird under a new captain, but she's got other plans. An update on Skye's condition and why Trip is the best. Jemma ends up someplace she wasn't ready to be yet.

Captain Rose approached Jemma cautiously, she seemed to be the exact opposite of Morse in more than just her small stature and dark brown hair, she was obviously inexperienced and nervous. She smiled and Jemma was reminded of a high school student walking up to receive their diploma. 

Jemma almost felt bad for her and yet she was kind ofrelieved to see her after the entire ordeal that had drained her physically andemotionally, she didn’t have to worry about Rose manipulating her or hurtingher, Rose seemed rather innocent and uncontaminated by the politics that ragedin this corner of the universe. 

Rose held a hand out, “Dr. Simmons, I can’t imagine whatyou’re feeling right now or what you’ve been through but I want you to know thatI’m going to get you home and that you are welcome and encouraged to use everyresource available on this ship. You will not be going through this alone, ourdoctors and our counselors will be with you to help you deal with everythingand so will my crew and I.”

Jemma wanted to cry that was so kind and civilized but shesmiled and shook the captain’s hand, “Thank you, captain Rose, but I just needsome rest, I think.”

Rose nodded, “Of course, I’ll have someone show you to your quarters immediately.”

“And if it’s not to much trouble, could I have a room with a double bed so that Nueh’nah could stay with me?” Jemma mentioned it as she felt the tug on her sleeve from the girl behind her who had been incredibly silent through this entire thing. 

The young captain nodded, “That’s no problem at all, get some rest doctor Simmons, I’m sure you need it.”

She instructed her commander to escort the women and amoment later a woman in uniform with an impressive physic, strong arms and dark skin came up and introduced herself, “I’m commander Morales, come with me, please.”

Jemma didn’t say anything but she and Nueh’nah followed closely to the commander as she led them through the ship that, although was just as beautiful and impressive as the first time Jemma saw it, seemed empty and all to quiet without the passengers on board. 

“If I may ask--” The librarian cut in on the silence as they walked through the ship, “What happened to Captain Morse?”

The commander paused as if she didn’t want to say, but she told Jemma anyway, “She was taken into custody by O’Nanh galactic security, it’s a shame really, I thought she had really turned a corner.” Morales looked back at her. 

It didn’t take them long to get to the room, apparently they wanted Jemma and Nueh’nah to be close to the bridge and the captain’s quarters, the commander stopped in front of the door and it slid open but Jemma didn’t go in, instead she asked, 

“What is--” She stopped, not wanting to say the name, “What is Ward going to do with the pirates?”

“He’s going to take them to O’Nah, where they’ll be jailed and, if they’re lucky, put on trial. After that the judges will determine what happens to them.”

“But what if they escape before they get to the planet?” The librarian continued to question her, 

“They won’t be able to, even if they escaped they would be in the middle of O’Nahn territory, even if they’re good, they’re not good enough to fight off an army. And once they’re on the planet, chances are, they won’t even see the light of day. Don’t worry, you’re safe, they’re never getting out again.” The commander assured her. 

Jemma was thankful for how sweet everyone on this ship was being, even if their concerns were misguided, so she faked a comforted smiled and nodded to reassure the commander that she was feeling safe. Morales seemed satisfied with herself and gestured politely to the room and Jemma and Nueh’nah stepped inside. 

“Try to get some rest, Dr. Simmons. You are completely free to go anywhere you want to on the ship, but you don’t even have to leave your room if you don’t want to, just tell the computer who you want to speak to, Doctor, counselor, captain, an officer, and they will be with you very shortly.”

Jemma pulled her arms around herself and smiled, “Thank you, Commander Morales, you and your captain have been so kind to me.”

The commander saluted and stepped away, letting the door slid shut, leaving the two women alone in the bright and vacation like room. Jemma turned away from Nueh’nah and took a deep breath, a second later she put her hand over her face and let out a small sob, she tried to hide it in her hands, not wanting this young girl who had been through so much feel like she had to comfort a woman who was older than her, but it escaped nonetheless and the girl noticed immediately. 

Nueh’nah walked behind Jemma and hugged her, resting her head on her back. The librarian turned around and pulled the young girl close, putting her chin on top of her head and rocking back and forth, trying to choke back tears. Nueh’nah cried too, although she didn’t know why she was crying. 

After a few minutes Jemma took a deep breath and stepped back, wiping her face and apologizing to the girl. “I am sorry your friend’s are not here.” Nueh’nah said with lack of anything better to say to comfort the doctor. 

Jemma chuckled, “Thank you, sweetie.” Then she added, “What is the Naht'Wuna word for ‘love’?”

Nueh’nah thought about it for a moment, “Wuh'Eh'Lif or Loh'Fi, one means ‘what we live for’ and the other is a chemical mixture.” Then she asked, “Did you have that with the Captain Skye?”

Jemma laughed and nodded, settling down on a bed and staring at the floor with a slightly sad look on her face, she nodded, “Yes, I did...”

“Which one?”

“Both?” Then she shook her head and stood up suddenly, “What am I doing? Just sitting here wallowing in my self pity? I need to do something, they need help.”

Nueh’nah looked around, confused as Jemma began to move quickly through the quarters, pulling out a bag and stuffing it with clothes and then pulling maps off of the computer. She stopped when she realized that Nueh’nah was staring at her and her eyes fell to the girl’s arm.

“Sweetie, you’ve got a cut on your arm, here let me clean that.” The girl put her arm up and the librarian immediately began to wash and clean her injury. She seemed to be in a hurry but she was still very gentle. 

She looked up at the younger girl, “You don’t have to come with me if you don’t want to, I’m sure I’m about to do something very dangerous and very stupid. This ship will take you to earth, my best friend Fitz will take very good care of you, I promise.”

Nueh’nah shook her head, “I’m staying with you. I’ve been in danger before. I’m not scared.”

Jemma seemed to pout for a moment but then she stood up and pulled the girl close in another tight hug, “What would I do without you?”  
.

.

.

Skye groaned loudly, “Ugh.. What the fuck happened?” She tried to sit up but a hand on her shoulder kept her down. She looked up directly into Trip’s face and squinted at him in confusion.

They were back in a cell, this time being monitored by three guards who never took their eyes off of them, she was lying on the cold floor, her head in Trip’s lap, they were surrounded by bloodied bandages and small medical supplies. 

“Easy,” he said, holding her down, “I’ve patched it up with stitches and they shouldn’t take very long to fuse your skin back but I don’t want you moving until I’m sure they’ll stay. Plus you’ve lost a lot of blood.” He explained glancing at the used bandages. 

Skye’s eyes moved from the floor around them to Trip’s face, the right side of his face was bruised and he had a black eye, she cringed, “God, Trip, I’m so sorry.” She reached up to touch his face and he moved in away with a sigh. 

“I’m fine, Skye, plus I didn’t get it nearly as bad as you did, you had a punctured lung and internal bleeding, I had to do surgery with a pair of tweezers and what I’m pretty sure was a butter knife.” One of the guards shushed them angrily and they lowered their voices, “All the while the guards have been breathing down my back.”

Skye smiled up at him, “I’m lucky you’re the best.”

He chuckled, “Yes, you are.”

“What about the dynamic duo? Are they okay?”

Trip shifted slightly and the captain cringed, “Yeah, they’re alive. Ward put them in hyper sleep, and the minute you can walk they’re probably going to do the same to us.”

Skye groaned, “I hate hyper sleep, it’s terrible, I always have to throw up for ten minutes after I wake up and half the time I get a case of amnesia to go with it.”

“You know they’re probably going to kill us, right?” Trip asked, getting straight to the point and ignoring Skye's grievences about Hyper sleep.

Skye gave a quick nod, “Yup.”

“Torture?”

“Most likely.”

“Trials and justice be damned?”

“Always.”

Trip sighed, “Why did I feel the need to move my ass out of Jupiter...”

Skye shifted so that she could look up at him, “Because you wanted to make the universe a better place.” She reminded him.

He huffed, “And look where that got me.”

Skye looked away from him and her face fell, “Did they already drop Jemma back off at the Mockingbird?”

He nodded, “Yeah, and apparently everything went smoothly. Ward’s pretty happy with himself and I’m sure Morse is too.”

She didn’t respond immediately and Trip went on, “At least she’s safe Skye and not in the same position that we’re in.”

Skye nodded, “Yeah, I’m happy about that... and I hope she has a wonderful life. I’m just happy I got to know her before I died.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 

Trip put a comforting hand over her forehead, “Hey, maybe we’ll just get some prison time?”

Skye laughed, “Now whose being the positive one.”

“Hey, I’m just trying to take your mind off of your long lost love.” He looked up and his eyes went wide, “Quick, pretend to be unconscious, I don’t want to go to hyper sleep yet.”  
Skye rolled her head and tried not to think to hard about their situation lest her tears give her away to Ward or the guards. She meant what she had said about Jemma, but at the same time some selfish part of her just wanted to be laying in her arms right now and not light years away from her.

.

.

.

Jemma glanced around the corner, looking for anybody that might see them; all she saw was an empty hallway. She gestured for Nueh’nah to follow and then they snuck through the ship as quietly as they could. They were lucky, or perhaps unlucky that there were no passengers at the moment because the halls were extremely quiet and empty.

They were moving to the shuttle dock, Jemma had something close to a plan but mostly her only goal was to get off of this ship without anybody noticing. It took them a while to get to the ship’s shuttle dock mostly because of their pacing and also the fact that it was on the other side of the ship and they couldn’t use the main lifts without running into someone.

Once they got there and the doors opened, Jemma was afraid that there would be a lot of personnel in the shuttle bay but in actuality it looked empty like the rest of the ship.

The shuttles were all lined up in pristine condition, they could be used both for emergency evacuation and for leisurely outings for the more high paying guests. They could hold up to 30 people if necessary.

Nueh’Nah pointed to the one farthest away from the door, a black shuttle with gold trimmings, it was probably reserved for the platinum paying customers.

“What about that one?”

Jemma looked up at the large shuttle with the almost ostentatious designs, and she glanced back at the girl, “The most expensive one? Are you sure?”

Nueh’nah shrugged her shoulders, “If you’re going to steal something, you might as well get your risk’s worth. Jhit'Wuh'uc.”

Jemma looked genuinely impressed, “You’re really getting the hang of this pirate thing aren’t you?”

She nodded, “So are you.”

The librarian chuckled, and shook her head, “I can’t believe I’m doing this… But alright, lets take this one, I’ll override the codes if you’ll ready the docking door.”

It only took her a minute to override the shuttles security and the door slid open revealing an extremely luxurious interior. It was large and open inside and the seating was soft and comfortable. She looked around the cabin for a moment, noticing a small cove next to the pilot seat. She opened it to find a gun inside, probably a need to know weapon only for in the case of emergencies.

She opened it up; It was empty. She shrugged her shoulders but put it under her belt nonetheless.

She moved to the exit, “Nueh, how’s it going with the—“

“Dr. Simmons, what is going on?” Captain Rose approached the shuttle looking alarmed but not angry. She was alone and she didn’t have a weapon on her.

Jemma sighed, she really didn’t want to have to do this, “I’m so sorry, Captain Rose..” She lifted the empty gun with one hand and tried her best to look confident and threatening, a feat which really wasn’t that easy for her.

Rose put her hands up, still looking utterly confused, “Dr. Simmons, what on earth are you doing?”

Jemma sighed, she felt a lot guiltier than she probably should have, “I’m going to have to commandeer this shuttle, okay? I don’t want any trouble, now please, stay back.” 

Nueh’nah walked up after she was finished getting their escape ready, she stopped as she saw the captain. Jemma gestured for her to get on the ship and she slid inside behind the librarian, letting her deal with the problem.

“Why are you doing this?” The captain seemed hurt and Jemma groaned, holding the gun up as best she could.

“I’m sorry, okay, I really, really am, you’ve been so lovely to us and I am so thankful for that but I have to take this shuttle and handle some unfinished business. I really am sorry to do this to you. I’ll bring it back if we live, okay?”

“But, why?” She persisted.

“I don’t know, okay, everything’s confusing and I don’t know exactly what I’m doing but you’re going to have to let me go.” She stomped her foot to make it more final.

She stepped back into the shuttle and closed the door, running to the controls and sending the ship out of the dock as fast as she could. “We need to get out of here before they send someone.” She said, rushed and nervous as she flicked a few switches on the main console.

“I do not think we need to worry about that.” Nueh’nah said, pointing out the small window on the side of the shuttle.

Jemma stood up and looked out the window, Rose had shut the dock down after them and there were no signs of alarms anywhere on the ship. Jemma frowned, “That lady is too lovely for this part of space, isn’t she?” The woman looked at the younger for confirmation and Nueh’nah nodded adamantly.

They went back to sit at the controls, “What are we going to do now?” The Naht'Wuna asked.

“I don’t know—“ She pulled the chip out of her pocket, “But I think I know someone who will.”

She plugged the ship into the main console, it lit up and beeped, they paused and looked at each other. “Alecta, are you there?” Jemma tried.

Then a voice spoke through the intercoms, it was similar to Alecta’s but it was absent of all the unpleasant static and raspyness, making her voice sound smooth and rather soulful. “Where is Helen? Why are you here and where am I?” She spouted off, annoyed.

Jemma quickly recapped everything that had happened to the AI while she stayed silent, “So now we need to help them and get them back, do you have any suggestions?” Jemma finished.

The AI all but growled, “I suggest we throw Ward to the pits of hell. Ugh, If I had a physical form...”

Jemma and Nueh’nah cringed, she sounded utterly enraged, “Well, yes I would like to do that as well but we need to get everyone back, until then, what do you think?

“I know where to go.” Is all she said in reply and a second later the shuttle had altered course.

“Where are we going?”

“A little planet called Lian.”

The AI didn’t explain further and she refused to speak for the rest of the journey, but she had taken control of navigations and they were moving at the highest speed possible.

In the end, it only took them about twelve hours to make it to the planet that Alecta was talking about, she was right, it was very small and it had the benefit of natural sunlight.

When they landed, they could immediately see the green rolling hills and the various wildlife feeding on the plants. With that and the mild temperature, the place looked like paradise, the shuttle automatically stopped in the middle of a small field, just a few meters away there was a house.

It was two stories tall and it looked like it had been built with the natural timber and resources of the planet. It had a simple white fence around it and it looked just as blissful as the rest of the planet.

“What is this place? What are we doing here?”

“Talking to someone who is going to help us kick Ward’s ass.”

“And who is that?” Jemma asked, continuing to look around astounded at the natural features of the planet.

“Just go up and knock on the damn door.” The AI practically sighed out, Jemma shrugged her shoulders and led Nueh’nah outside the shuttle.

They walked slowly up to the door of the pleasant looking house; Jemma glanced back one last time at her companion before she lifted her fist and knocked three times on the wood door.

She had barely moved her hand away before the door flew open and suddenly Jemma was face to face with the barrel of a gun. She gasped and took a step back but the person stepped forward.

“Who are you and what are you doing on my planet.” A stern woman’s voice asked on the other side of the gun.

Jemma gulped and took a closer inspection of the woman holding the weapon in her face. Realization dawned on her and she was simultaneously hopeful and terrified at the same time.

She tried to keep herself from shaking but she took a step closer and held her head up high, she knew if she said the wrong thing she would be shot immediately and without question.

“Captain May? Captain Melinda May? My name is Jemma Simmons and I’m here because of your daughter.


	18. May's Style

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jemma explains what has happened to May and Coulson's daughter and they make a choice to help her find Skye, also a look at "The Calvary" and an update on Morse.

Jemma stood rigidly in the middle of a small entrance hall, May had let them in but only reluctantly had now left them near the door while she disappeared into the rest of the house. Apparently, May had assumed that Jemma was not, in fact, a threat. Although in her initial shock she had dmitted to mistrusting the stranger.

Jemma looked around, resembling a nervous child as she held her hands in front of her, wringing her fingers and scanning the environment in awe. The house looked like it could have been transported directly from earth, or one of the surrounding colonies, with real wood and dark green walls. The air was fresh and natural. 

On the left side a few feet away from the door their was a coat rack, made out of solid wood with simple designs that couldhave easily have been hand made, Jemma felt like she had been transported back in time.The place looked like a museum piece. The top of the coat rack was a shelf, probably meant for hats,but instead it held three small holographic pictures, playing a single moment over and over again, with a small base made out of fake dark wood. 

The librarian walked up to the holo-pictures, the one in the middle, the most prominent one, was of a man, presumably Skye’s father, laughing and holding onto a little girl that was about three years old. The child laughed and shrieked silently while the man held on to her sweetly. Skye was an adorable child with chubby cheeks and a wide smiling face.

Jemma had to stop herself from making an out loud declaration of aww at the photo. The Holo-picture to the right was of a couple, the man from the first photo and a much younger captain May. They stood next to each other and the man glanced at May fondly but they didn’t display any overtly affectionate movements. It could have been a wedding photo although, neither of them were dressed up, May looked like she was in a space uniform and the man was in a casual suit that looked out of place next to the captain in a practical uniform. 

On the other side there was simply a moving holographic picture of a squat, little happy toddler. Skye, as a baby had rosy little cheeks and bright eyes that lit up her whole face. She was holding a sparkling blue orb that seemed to be trying to get away from her, pulling away from her chubby little fingers only to be drug back and hugged by the trap like arms of the two year old.

“A Zandoran cat.”

Jemma jumped and backed away startled, her eyes went over to where the stern looking woman was standing about a foot behind her, “Excuse me?” More on instincts than anything. 

“That--.” She said, pointing to the picture of little Skye with the orb, “It’s called a Zandoran cat, she had one as a pet, named it Oogle.” The captain explained dryly to a question that Jemma hadn’t asked. 

“Now, tell me what’s going on?” She gestured for Jemma and Nueh’nah to follow her through the house. The home was dark, matching the decor from the entrance way, but it was cozy and unlike what Jemma had imagined when she thought about Captain Melinda May. She wondering if this was the same house that Skye would have lived in from time to time or if they had bought it after she was grown.

The whole house was filled with pictures, holographic pictures on every surface and framed photos on the walls. In the short walk from the entry hall to the living room, Jemma was able to see Skye at every age in her life from chubby little baby to a young woman standing next to her first ship.

Their living area had several chairs that were comfortable looking and resembled furniture from Earth, again someone in this house had an obsession with earth. A man was leaning up against a post, his arms crossed, with an expression of concern over his gentle features. When they entered the room he left his position and walked up to their visitor, holding out a hand. 

“Phil Coulson.” He stated, with the eased confidence of someone who had done that a lot during their life, He was a kind yet professional loking man with a slightly balding forhead that he apparently never tried using enhancments for. 

Jemma shook his hand, “I’m Dr. Jemma Simmons. And this is Nueh’nah.” She gestured to the girl behind her and Coulson shook the younger girls hand as well. 

“Is Skye alright?” He asked, examining Jemma’s expression closely, May was standing behind him, her arms crossed and her expression murderous.

Jemma sighed, the entirety of everything that had happed over the past week dawning on her like pile of bricks, Coulson put a hand on her arm, apparently she looked like she was about to faint. He gestured to one of the chairs, “Sit down and tell us what’s happened...”

.

.

.

"Ugh!" Morse hit the side of the ship and kicked it for good measure, she rubbed her face, angry with indecision. 

behind her the Black Widow was laughing at her reaction on the viewing screen, "Having a bit of a moral delemma, Morse?"

She had just informed the newly free pirate that Simmons had stolen a shuttle and left the safety of the Mockingbird, claiming that she had "Unfinished business." Morse had just been feeling good about the effort that she had put into helping the Dr. and now she knew something had gone wrong. 

Morse glared at the Widow, "If I had been on that ship this wouldn't have happened. Ugh, this is that Ward's fault, he must have done something to really piss off that girl."

"Yeah sorry about that." The Widow said innocently with a little smile, she was having too much fun watching this ordeal play out. 

Morse looked at her, unsure of what she meant, then Romanov lifted her hand and wiggled the paper volumes in the air with a little giggle. Bobbie's eyes widened, "Are you fucking kidding me, Romanov?"

"What?" She asked calmly, "My wife's at work and I needed something to do, this was good practice, these babies are worth an infinite amount, especially with the scandal that's surrounding them now."

Morse looked livid, "You framed me."

The Widow shrugged her shoulders, "You belong in our world, Bobbie, don't even try to tell me that breaking out didn't fill you with a sense of freedom that you missed. I did you a favor."

She was right. But Bobbie wasn't going to give her the satisfaction, "That wasn't your decision to make, Romanov."

The Black Widow put her hands up, "Here, let me make it up to you, take these." She showed two of the books to the screen.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with those?"

"Sell them and start over, of course, you've really forgotten a lot haven't you?" She was smiling at Bobbie in a friendly way. 

Bobbie sighed and a moment later She had transported the volumes onto the floor next to her, she looked up, "There were more than this."

"I need to keep something for a souvenir. Now, why don't you take those, get yourself some credit, buy a bigger ship and start again, You could even break your old buddy Lance out of prison, if he'll forgive you for ratting him out, that is."

Morse raised an eyebrow, "He better forgive me, I saved his damn life."

The Widow chuckled, "I don't know if he'll see it like that."

Morse sighed, "No. I'm going to see what the hell Simmons is doing, I never leave anything undone. Oh, and Widow, tell me the next time you decide to make major life decisions for me, yeah?"

The Black Widow winked and shut off the screen.

.

.

.

 

“...And then he shot her.” Jemma put her face in her hands, stressing over the memory of what Ward had done. 

Coulson and May exchanged a look, talking in some kind of silent language that was only theirs and was perfected over many years of marriage. 

“But she’s alive.” May took a step closer to the group so that they created a small circle in the middle of the living area. 

Jemma nodded, “I believe so. But She’s out there alone and I need help to get her back, Alecta brought me here I can only assume that she knew that you could help.”

There was a pause where everything went quiet, then May put her arms down, “I’ll go  
get the ship.”

Jemma looked up at her confused, “Wait, that’s all?”

May had just made to walk away but she stopped and turned to face them again, “This man shot my daughter in the back. He’s going to pay.” 

May's face was like concrete but her husband didn't look quite as convinced from what Jemma had told them. He looked around with wide eyes that stopped on Jemma. “Wait, she kidnapped you? Why are you even trying to help her?” Coulson piped in suspciously. 

“Oh-- Well-I-- I mean..” A blush moved it’s way up Jemma’s face and down her neck before she could properly respond, and she looked away in embaresment. 

May and Coulson exchanged another look, the captain rolled her eyes as she had caught onto what the librarian was saying much faster than her husband “Think about it, Phil.”   
It dawned on him and he suddenly said “Oh..” as it dawned on him and he nodded quickly at the woman with a smile, dropping the subject.

In the next moment Phil stood up, “Lets go get this bastard.” Then everyone was moving fast and Jemma and Nueh’nah were rushing and struggling just to keep up. 

“Are you getting a crew together?” Jemma inquired, following closley behind May.

She was answered simply by a small chuckle from May as she shook her head and walked away, a handheld in her grasp. She hit a few buttons and suddenly the one of the natural looking walls turned over revealing an armory that could equip an entire army. Jemma’s mouth dropped open as she stared at the mix of classic weapons and guns and also some weapons that didn’t look like they were even out of testing stage yet. 

May smirked at Jemma’s shocked face, “Impressive?” 

Jemma nodded adamantly, her eyes still wide, May moved and pulled a moderately large gun off of the hidden rack, she handed it to the shorter woman. “You know how to use this?”

Jemma’s face wasn’t convincing, “Probably, yes.”

May raised a skeptical eyebrow, “It’s a next gen, small with the power of a shotgun with none of the mess. Take it and keep it close, you’ll probably need it.”

"Why are you trusting me here? I mean, what if I was lying to you, how would you know?"

May smiled at her and before Jemma could even blink there was a knife at her throat that had come out of nowhere, "Because, If you're lying to me. I'll kill you."

Jemma gulped and nodded, "Good insurance." She always dd have a problem with asking questions that could get her into trouble.

May turned away from her while Jemma moved the gun around in her hands, feeling the light weight and the position, she gave it a few test aims, then clicked it into stun mode and glanced at Skye’s mother.

“You know, Skye robbed an entire ship with an empty gun.”

May looked back and sighed, “She’s gets that from her father, you know.” Her face still didn’t have that much expression but Jemma chuckled. 

“She’s going to be fine, right? I mean, we’ll get her before anything happens?” Jemma’s voice was solemn and young. She felt like she could be frank around this woman, like truth was the only thing that she would accept. 

The older woman halted and looked directly into Jemma’s eyes, “Nothing is certain here, Dr. Simmons. Now board the ship, I’ll be right behind you.”

“Don’t you need help supplying the ship?” She asked gesturing to the armory. 

May gave that dry chuckle, “It’s already supplied, this is just my backup storage.”

A few moments later Jemma stepped out of the back door to the house and came face to face with an incredibly large ship that must have been cloaked previously. She felt like she was witnessing a legend in action, and in all reality, she probably was, The Calvary was everything she would have dreamed it would be. 

It was an older style ship, however, it’s hull and body looked like it had been refurnished recently and you could find remnants of nearly every single galaxy and culture in the design of the exterior. Jemma could see several languages sealed into the seams of the ship, all flowing forward to the very edge of the hull where there was written, “The Calvary.” in bold, simple lettering that resembled Captain May perfectly. 

Jemma boarded The Calvary, looking around in awe at the interior of the ship which was even more diverse than the exterior. It was large and spacious on the inside and although everything was practical and not very ostentatious, there was art work and furniture designs that had come from every corner of the universe. She felt like she had walked into an intergalactic cultural convention. 

“Jemma!” Nueh’nah ran up from the bridge where she had been with Coulson, her eyes were wide and bright, the librarian had never seen her so excited. 

“What is it?” Jemma asked, getting excited simply because the girl was so energetic.

Nueh’nah moved to the side and grabbed a small, stuffed toy from one of the chairs. It was patched and it was of an animal that Jemma had never seen before, it resembled something close to a hippo mixed with a cat with antlers? “This is from Tah’Reh!” She cried, holding the toy up so that the older woman could see it. 

“We had so many of these in my village! They’ve been everywhere!” She opened her arms and gestured to the entire ship. 

Jemma laughed, “Yes, they have! It’s incredible.”

She was then led into the bridge which was a large domed room with a full size viewing screen in the front. The equipment inside was state of the art.

Phil was messing with a console on the far right and he looked up when they entered, he looked stressed but he smiled nonetheless when he saw the toy that Nueh’nah was still holding. “We got that about fifteen years ago, Skye picked it up in a shop in Peyt, it was from one of the traditional toy makers there.” He explained, “You can keep it if you want.”

Nueh’nah smiled and thanked him, although Jemma guessed that the girl was keeping it whether or not Coulson offered it to her, at least judging by the way she was holding it to her body possesively. 

Before Jemma could say anything else she was again shocked to find that May had somehow moved right next to her without her knowledge. 

“We’re ready to go. Set the coordinates to The O’Nahn galactic docking center at the capitol.” Phil immediately punched in the coordinates and turned around as the ship lifted off the ground. 

Jemma looked up as a familiar voice came through the intercom, “Let’s go get this bastard. I knew you’d know what to do, Melinda.”

May smirked, “I’ve missed you too, Alecta.”


	19. Taking the Silver Tongue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye and Trip are woken up while May and her small crew are coming to save them, they board the ship and begin making plans.

Skye fell out of the hyper sleep tube and landed harshly on the floor with a thud, she groaned loudly, “Ugh! Fuck you, Ward...” She complained to guards that were pointing guns at her while she doubled over and began throwing up. 

A few minutes later she was joined by Trip who was dumped on the floor as unceremoniously as she was, except he wasn’t puking ( It was a nasty side effect that some people were lucky enough not to have to deal with) , he did cough however as he was ripped back into concienceness, he patted Skye’s back as she heaved on the floor. 

A few minutes later she was finished and she wiped her mouth and groaned, rubbing her ribs delicately, He patted her back again, “You good?”

“Wonderful.” She said with thick sarcasm, “I love the taste of bile in the morning.”

One of the guards poked her with the tip of his gun, urging her rudely forward as he probably didn’t know how to speak with his mouth. Skye glared at him and spit on the ground, he prodded her again, this time Trip helped her up and they let themselves be pushed forward by the guards. 

They were both dizzy and unsteady from the hypersleep and nearly fell over several times as they were moved into a shuttle and strapped into a transport pod, next to them Mack and Ku’ut were looking as dazed and miserable as them. Ku’ut growled at the guards as they passed by, a string of drool coming from the side of her mouth. 

Ward boarded the shuttle and then, on his command, they were transported onto the planet with nothing they could do to stop the process. 

Skye closed her eyes and tried to think about something else but the reality of what was happening. A technique that her mother had taught her; Kepp something in mind that keeps you grounded and your mind clear.

However, she immedietly began thinking about excape routes that would get them all out of this alive but again, her mother's voice interupted her thoughts, saying "Be patient and wait for the right moment."

Skye took a deep breath and thought about her and Jemma's theoretical wedding. It would be an outside wedding that Helen would administer with Jemma's best friend at her side and Trip by Skye's side. Her dad would be holding back tears although he would be denying it. Her mom's face would be indifferent but she would be proud and she would tell Skye that in private after the wedding...

The colors would be silver and pink and it would be the most perfect day ever... Trip glanced at Skye strangly as she smiled, completly unphased, to herself.

.

.

.

“So, what was Skye like as a child?” They were at the end of their journey, and Jemma was still attempting to break the silence that always seemed to surround May. At the moment, Phil and Nueh’nah were touring around the ship. Nerves were consuming Jemma's insides and she was desperate for something to take her mind off of things.

May gave her a slow glance and then looked back at the sensors she was studying, “She was adventurous, she never turned down a challenge.”

“So she hasn’t really changed?” Jemma asked, smiling. 

May shook her head, “No, she was always too smart and brave for her own good.”

“Did she get that from you?” The younger woman inquired, determined to fill the silence between them. 

May raised her eye brow, “Maybe.” Jemma looked down, disappointed, and May sighed with a roll of her eyes, “Skye loved the idea of being a pirate, when she was little she always wanted to be just like me, I told her that she didn’t want to be like me but she never listened--” She chuckled, “I should have known, she never listened, even when she was a baby, she always wanted to explore, argue and question everything.”

Before Jemma could respond, May changed the subject, her voice motherly and threatening “You seem like a nice girl, Dr. Simmons but you’ve yet to impress me. You can kiss my ass all you want but I’ll be the judge of if you’re good enough for my daughter.”

Jemma nodded, “Yes, Ma’am.”

Phil and Nueh’nah entered the room before they could speak anymore, the teenager looked like a child at Christmas by the way she was staring around and asking him questions. “Have you two been to Bellamane?” She asked him as they came into the bridge.

Jemma looked up, curious at what he was going to say, he grinned, “Yes, we have.”

“Was it beautiful?”

He nodded, “It was one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever been.”

May was reloading her gun which was a lot bigger and more intimidating than Jemma’s, the librarian leaned over and asked in a low voice, “Is Bellamane an actual place? I’ve never heard of it before.”

May glanced at her, “It’s a storybook place, “ She whispered, “A place that parents tell their children in Tah’Reh, It’s not for us to destroy her dreams.” Then she locked her gun on to her side and stood up, “We’re almost there, get ready.”

Jemma’s eyes widened, “Already? What’s the plan? What are we going to do now that we’re here?” She asked anxiously.

“We’re going to hit them hard and fast. Get a suit on and meet us on at the transporter.”

Nueh’nah turned to follow Phil but May stopped her, “Nueh'nah, do you know how to use a gun?”

She shook her head.

“That’s fine,” She handed the teenager a small gun, “Just pull the trigger when you feel threatened. I need you to stay on the bridge, if anything happens just put the ship into warp speed; it’ll take you someplace safe.”

“But I want to help.” She insisted.

“You will be helping. Never leave your ship completely empty, that’s an important rule. I need you to stay here and defend my ship."

She patted the girl on the shoulder and then left with Phil and Jemma. The librarian looked back at the young girl; She was smiling to herself and looking at the gun.

As they walked her heart was beating so hard in her chest that she felt like she was going to pass out.

Apparently she looked like it to since Coulson put a hand on her shoulder and reminded her to breathe. She took a deep breath, not even realizing that she had been holding it.

She understood immediately that when you were working with Captain Melinda May, there was no time to waste, May moved fast and she expected everyone else to keep up or fall behind. That attitude actually made Jemma more determined to keep up with her, maybe to impress her or earn her respect she didn’t know but she did know that it was a good attitude for a leader to bring out in their crew.

“Do you remember when you told Skye that so she would stay on the bridge while we went down, Melinda?” Phil asked his wife with a grin.

May smiled, “Yes, but she rarely believed me.”

They were talking as if they were having a morning coffee and Jemma was struggling between the anxiety and the fear to keep up with them. After they were suited up May transported them onto the Silver tongue without any further explanation.

Jemma jumped as she looked around and she was on the ship, she raised her gun and expected to be surrounded by Ward’s guards but there was nothing. They were on the bridge of the ship but it was completely empty. Jemma twirled around with her gun, breathing heavily.

“Where are they? Where did they go?”

May placed her gun back on her side and walked over to the main console, moving through the cubicles with knowledgable ease. “They’ve already transported to the planet.”

Phil was moving through the boxes, checking for any stragglers, but Jemma was staring at May expectantly, “What does that mean? Are we too late?”

May didn’t answer her but Phil did, “No, it just means we’re going to have to go to the planet and get them out.”

“Oh that’s not good..”

“It’s not advisable, no, but we can do it.” He reassured her,

“How? In the capitol city of one of the largest powers in the universe?”

“We’ve done it before.” May said, moving to another cubicle. Looks like everone left on the ship are in the slave section. Phil, you want to get them?” She asked her husband.

He nodded, “My pleasure.”

“I’m going to go have a visit with any of the officers left on the ship. And Jemma?”

“Yes?”

“I need you to find Helen.” She ordered, "I doubt they've moved her, they probably want to keep her body for profit."

Jemma nodded and moved to the lift at the end of the room, she looked through the symbols on the panel, and unfortunately she didn’t know how to maneuver through O’Nahn technology since so much of it was triggered with their telepathic abilities.

It took her several minutes but eventually she was moving down the ship, She had a shot of finding the right place. When the lift stopped she raised her gun and waited for the door to slid open, when it did the hall was empty.

.

.

.

On another floor May was moving at an impressive rate down a hall. She stopped at a door and opened it. The man inside, Ward's second in command, jumped to his feet with a yell.

"Who the hell are you?! How did you get in here?!" He struggled with the words but he executed them perfectly nonetheless.

He had barely got the words out before May had bashed the side of his head with her gun and he fell over with a cry of pain. 

"I overode your sensors and alarms. It was child's play. You're a pathetic excuse for an officer."

He groaned, trying to regain his footing, she grabbed one of his arms and threw him into the wall with enough force to leave a dent in the shape of his face. 

"Tell me where they took the Pirate Skye." She demanded. 

"What?" He coughed out and she smashed his face again. 

"Skye! The one Ward shot in the back!" She yelled at him.

He whimpered pathetically, "She--She's being held on the planet for a public execution."

"I know that, dumbass, where on the planet?"

He pointed a shaking hand to a small hand held that was lying on the bed. She let him go and picked it up, sure enough it had all of her information and even the security that Ward had requested.

Ward's second in command raised an arm with a small knife held tightly in his cracked hand, May raised her leg and kicked him without even looking back at him. Her foot connected with his jaw with a loud crack, he fell over to the side, clutching his face.

.

.

.

When Jemma found Helen, the android was strung up on an robot repair rack, the image made her cringe but she moved to her friend and began working on her circuits that had been fried in the blast. In human terms, Helen was in an induced coma and wouldn’t be able to wake up until her circuits were repaired.

Jemma had no idea what she was doing and she was going off of pure instinct, when she was almost done she heard steps behind her, she looked back, hoping that it wasn’t a guard, May emerged from the hallway dragging the second in command with her. The man was bloodied and bruised and was whimpering at her firm grip on his neck.

“I know where their keeping her.” She said, then he looked behind her where Phil walked up, “What’s the situation?”

“He’s got nearly four hundred Naht'Wunas working here against their will.”

“Are they willing to help us?”

“Oh yeah, their willing. But a lot of them are children”

May closed her eyes, “We'll transport the children onto The Calvary, all the healthy adults that want to help, tell them to meet me in the cargo hold. Jemma?”

The librarian didn’t answer and simply continued to work, a few minutes later Helen came back to life with a snap. The android acted started and scared at first but when she saw Jemma she smiled, “I am glad it was you that Skye took hostage.” She said sweetly, and then she added, “I assume there are many asses to kick, now?”

Jemma let out a relieved breathe and then practically fell into the android's arms. "It's good to hear your voice, Helen, and yes we do. But We've got some help." She looked back at Captain May.

Helen smirked in a way that Jemma had never seen before, "Am I your secret weapon, may?"

May's expression didn't change but she threw her gun over her shoulder, "Yes. Now suit up."


	20. Place by My Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May and Helen and Jemma go into save those who Ward captured but Skye but they're not the only ones with a trick up their sleeve.

“What is the plan, May?” They were moving quickly down the hall to, what Jemma assumed, was the cargo hold. May had wasted no time, the second that Helen was functional they were moving again, however, Helen seemed okay with this.

It was interesting, most androids remove their emotions chip choosing instead to live a life unburdened by feelings and complexities and Jemma always assumed that Helen had done the same, however, she soon realized as the android suited up and chose her weapon, that Helen had always just been very good at controlling her emotions. Now, she was angry, Jemma could see the dangerous look in the normally kind and logical eyes and she was glad that Helen was on their side.

“We infiltrate and then we extrapolate. Fast and clean. Kill anyone who gets in our way.”

Jemma noticed how similar this plan was to her last plan, “Is that your favorite method?” She asked, a cheeky edge to her voice.

May actually smiled at her, then nodded her head forward as they entered the cargo bay. The captain went straight in but the younger woman stopped in the door way, the entire room (And it was a very large room, almost bigger than the bridge) was filled with people, Jemma assumed that they were Naht’Wunas, none of them looked as healthy as the crew did and they all had shaved heads.

They may have been called a small and weak army if not for the fact that they were all armed and had the look of revenge in their eyes.

Helen stood next to May and greeted the first to walk up to them. She was a dark woman with wide shoulders and a lined face. She came up and signed the words “We are ready.” It was only then that Jemma realized that she didn’t have a tongue.

May nodded and spoke, “Thank you for your offer to help. Half of you will need to stay here and man the bridge, the rest of you, follow me. Any questions?”

The leader signed quickly, “Why do we need to stay here? I thought my people would be taken to your ship?”

“You, of course are welcome to come with me but I thought you would prefer just to take this ship.”

“What about when the crew comes back?” She urged at May.

May’s expression didn’t change, “After we are done, I doubt there will be any left. Any questions?” She asked again. This time no one spoke. “Then Half of you follow me.” She ordered and then turned and walked back out the door, around fifty people following behind her obediently, along with Jemma and Helen.

They were nearly to the transport room when May turned her head and spoke to Jemma. “I need you to go back on The Calvary, I’m going to need you to ensure our way out.”

The librarian’s face scruntched up and she ran to try to catch up to the Captain who informed her of this and then kept walking. Jemma moved next to her, “I’m sorry, I thought I was going with you?”

“You don’t know anything about being in a fight, you barely know how to use a gun, you’ll be a vulnerability down there.”

They entered the transport room and May was currently messing with the controls of the transporter, paying little attention to the indignant librarian, “I know how to fight, well enough. And Nueh'nah can help with the Exit.”

May turned to her, “That’s not good enough.”

Jemma crossed her arms and blocked the Captain from moving forward, “Well, it will have to be because I’m not staying here while the rest of you fight to save them. I told Skye and I’ll tell you, Captain May, we’re going to win together or we’re going to die together. Period.”

Jemma half expected the captain to slap her but instead May’s lips thinned and she shook her head, “It’s your funeral. Just don't bring any of us down with you.” And then she moved around Jemma and stood on the transport pad.

Jemma smiled, proud of herself, and then she moved next to May, where Helen joined them a moment later.

She hoped beyond hope that they weren’t too late, in many ways she felt like this was her fault, that Skye would have gotten away free and clear if she had not been there. However, in reality, this entire thing was basically Skye’s fault since she was the one who kidnapped Jemma and not the other way around.

Jemma sighed and held her gun close, she had the distinct feeling that she had several years a head of her of pulling Skye out of situations that she created for herself. Jemma was okay with that, she was feeling strong, capable, she had never felt so powerful and it made her confident. Skye seemed to do that to her, even when she wasn’t there with her.

.

.

.

Skye, Trip, Mack, and Ku’ut were loaded into containment pods almost the second that they arrived on the planet. It made Skye smug that they had affected Ward enough to make him this paranoid. Paranoid enough to contain then and put security around them.

Ku’ut wiggled and shrieked in her pod, the others stayed silent glaring at the guards that were pacing in front of their pods. Skye didn’t know what the other two were doing but she was watching their security force closely. Tracking their movements and habits and also their tools.

Only one of them had a personal alarm system, the head guard, and he kept that on his hip. If anything were to happen he would just have to push a button and most of the O’Nahn army that was in the building would come running. However, the rest of them would have to go to the wall to switch the alarm on. That was Skye’s way in.

Getting out of containment pods were a nearly impossible science, but a science that her mother had taught her from a very young age. Not only had May figured that it would just be a handy thing for Skye to know but she taught it to her for safety reasons, one never knew who could be lurking in the universe waiting to kidnap someone, especially children, and they would often put them into a containment pod similar to the ones that they were currently trapped in.

However, it didn’t matter how much practice a person had had when escaping the pods, they were unpredictable and difficult to beat. Their wiring was sensitive and would lock down the whole device if it even for a moment thought it was being tampered with. It was a delicate and somewhat random job. There was no guarantee that a person could get out even if they had a system.

Skye watched the guards carefully while she used her right hand to pull apart a piece of the pod and begin tampering with the wires. She tried to make it look like she just had her arm at the side and every time a guard glanced at her she would glare and stop moving her fingers. 

She had been working diligently for almost five hours, she knew this because the guards would be rotated every one hour. Finally she had got to the point where it was either going to fail or it was going to work. If it did work she had no way of telling the others what she was planning and she would just have to trust that they would know what they needed to do. 

She pulled out a wire and squeezed her eyes shut, this was it. The light at the top of the pod went out and the pod whirred a few more times before it died and the door clicked open. 

Her eyes snapped open and she flew out of her pod, grabbing the leader and shoving him up against Trip’s pod. She pulled the alarm off of his belt and threw it away, knocking him out with one final hit and then opening the others’ pods in one fell swoop. 

The other four guards yelled and ran for the other wall. Skye pulled the gun up and shot and stunned three of them, their bodies falling to the floor with a anticlimactic thud. She was going to throw the gun at the other one but before she could even attempt that Ku’ut was on top of him, incapacitating them in a much more brutal way than Skye. 

Skye walked over the bodies of the guards and pistol-whipped them one by one to make sure that they were unconscience. Without a word she pulled their guns off of them and threw them to her small group. Mack’s mouth was open in shock. 

She grinned and patted him on the arm, “I’ll teach it to you if we ever get out of this.” Then she motioned for them to help her move the bodies. They stuffed them into the pods with very little grace and locked them inside, there were only four pods so two of them had to share.

“We have fifteen minutes before the next rotation comes in, then all hells going to break loose.” Skye informed them, looking at the watch on her wrist that she had stolen from one of their victims. 

“I say we get the hell outta here.” Mack said, already heading for the door, Ku’ut was right behind them as they looked around the corner to check if anyone was out side the room, the next room was empty so they moved forward. 

Trip and Skye were behind them and Trip patted Skye on the back with a grin, “That was seriously impressive back there, I hope you know that.”

She smiled, “Thanks, I always thought mom was paranoid when she used to put me in those things and train me to get out, now I understand.”

“Well, when we get out of here you can thank her.” Skye nodded and they headed out, incredibly careful not to raise any suspicion. 

The palace at the capitol of O’Nah was massive and it went nearly sixteen floors underneath the ground, holding many secret and less than friendly activities happening just underneath the peoples feet. Skye and her group were on floor -11 and they had a long way to go before they even hit the ground floor. 

When they were on floor -2 Skye looked over at Trip critically, “It’s been well over fifteen minutes and no alarms have gone off, why not?”

Trip shook his head but Ku’ut made the action of an animal getting caught in a trap,

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” 

She was hesitant to move on but Trip urged her forward, “We won’t know until we get up to the top, we might as well try to get out.”

She nodded and moved forward, the inactivity that they were experiencing was puting her more on edge than if they had encountered enemies on their journey upwards. They should have been hearing the army come in by now but the whole place seemed almost empty save for a few of the random civilians working and they just went around them. 

“Okay we’re here, now this is where it’s going to get bad, once we get outside we need to split up, meet up at one spot later and then we can start getting off the planet.” Skye explained to them, crouching just inside the door that led to the first floor of the palace, this place would be a massive mixture of security, officals and civillians. A lot of people with a lot of power, money, and probably some very scary looking guns. 

Skye snapped the door open and stood up brandishing her gun as if she were about to commit a heist, the others followed her lead. But they stopped just outside the door. 

“What the hell...” Skye trailed off, she was looking at a beautiful and expansive room that would make any architect weep and it should have been bustling with people, the palace at O’Nah had hundreds maybe thousands of individuals come through it’s doors everyday but today it was a scattered mess of bodies. 

“This isn’t right, what the hell’s going on?” Skye asked, moving her gun around, looking for someone, anyone to make sense of what was happening. 

“It’s our lucky day is what it is.” Mack said, openly gleeful and he walked out into the middle of the crystal floors, looking around for something to prove him wrong. “Guys we’re home free!”

Ku’ut made a purring noise that sounded like a playful cat but Skye didn’t smile, she was looking down thinking hard, “What could have emptied this place so quickly...”

Mack grinned, “Maybe it’s a holiday. I don’t care but I’m not waiting around here to find out. That’s for sure.”

Trip put a hand on Skye’s shoulder, “He’s right, Skye, we need to go.”

She nodded, still worried, but she knew that this may be their only chance to get out but it still baffled her and concerned her, she knew all to well that luck like this was either fake or was actually something terrible in disguise.

They went through the side of the building, their entire way they never encountered anybody, Just bodies and quiet carnage. Without any obstacles to speak of they got out at an incredible speed and in no time flat they were exiting out of a side door into the light, cool air of Cin'es'Lah. 

They ran forward through the gardens but Skye stopped halfway through them, people were piling out the other side of the building, they were panicked and yelling loudly. Skye noticed that none of them were security or from the Silver tongue.

She was about to move forward when a lone figure caught her eye, he was moving away from the crowd, his shoulders forward as he headed for the shuttle docking area. He glanced fearfully over his shoulder and Skye’s face burned with hate as she saw his face. 

“Skye, what the hell? What are you doing?” They tried to see where she was staring but they saw nothing by the time he disappeared. 

Skye looked at them slowly, her face hard and blank, she handed Trip her handheld that she had stolen from the guards, “You guys keep going, there’s something I have to do.”

Trip’s face dawned with realization, “Skye, no.” But she was already moving away from them before he could say anything else. 

Mack sighed, “You see, it’s this shit that got us into this situation in the first place.” 

“Let’s get out of here.” Trip moved forward, 

“You just going to let her go?” Mack asked, because he knew that Trip had known her the longest.

Trip looked back at him and raised an eyebrow, “You wanna go after her?”

Mack didn’t say anything so they moved on, Ku’ut’s eyes were darting back and forth in a mixture of aggression and annoyance. They had gotten about a hundred feet away when they stopped dead at the sound of a gun clicking. 

“Dr. Triplet?”

When they looked over they saw Jemma lowering her gun, Trip laughed in relief and ran to her. “Jemma, what the hell are you doing here?” He asked. 

“I’m here to rescue you. What are you doing?”

Trip laughed, “We’re escaping. So you’re the cause of all of this?” He gestured to the general area, refering to the emptiness and the panic. But he stopped when Helen walked up behind the shorter woman, looing gruesome. “Oh, Yeah I guess you did..”

Jemma ignored him, “Where is Skye?”

He groaned, and pointed to the docking area “I think she went after Ward. I couldn’t stop her.”

Jemma didn’t ask any more questions and instead just headed off to where he was pointing, her gun up and at the ready. 

.

.

.

“WARD!”

Skye stood at the edge of the dock with her fists clenched at her side staring at Ward who was about to board his shuttle. He looked around slowly but intead of facing her, he just moved inside without a word. 

“Ward, come out here and fight me face to face!” She screamed at him and the added just as loud, “Coward!”

A minute later he stepped out of his shuttle, a sneer over his features, “What did you call me?” He asked, his pride coming through. 

She grinned wickedly at him, “I called you a coward, You’ll shoot me in the back but you don’t have the guts to fight me in a fair fight.”

He didn’t say anything but he stepped down slowly from the shuttle ramp and walked right up to Skye. She didn’t move as he faced her and spat out, “We’ll see about that.”

Then he drew his arm back for a punch but she blocked it, moving her leg around and knocking him to the ground in one movement, he twisted his body back up with professionally trained ease and he kicked at her; She ducked underneath it and landed a punch on his side. 

He grunted and held his torso. They circled around each other like two big cats ready to fight to the death. To call the following fight brutal would be to underestimate it, they were both trained and deadly in hand to hand combat. It was bloody and both of them were hit extremly hard. 

However, by the time Ward had gained his footing enough to knock Skye down to the ground, stunning her and making her cry out in pain, he had already sustained broken ribs, a broken wrist and several knocked out teeth. 

He grinned over her the best he could as she glared up at him, holding the back of her head where she had landed, he spit out blood onto the floor and was about to aim other punch when a bullet whizzed past his head and he ducked. Skye rolled away as well, getting to safety from the unknown attacker. 

Ward spun around to face whoever tried to shoot him, he coughed, spitting out a tooth, “You again?”

Jemma was standing at the end of the dock her gun up and ready, she was alone but she was walking slowly closer. Skye squinted and then her mouth dropped open as she saw who it was, suddenly her heart dropped. “Jemma get out of here! He’s got a gun!”

The librarian only glanced at Skye but kept moving forward. Ward laughed and rolled his eyes, “You’re not going to shoot me, have you even shot a gun before, you crazy bitch?”

He chuckled again and reached for his side, Skye screamed, “Jemma no!” And then she looked away, not wanting to witness what was about to happen. 

A shot rang out with a deafening force within the room and Skye grabbed her ears, crying. It was a long moment afterwards that she had the courage to look up and see the damage.

Jemma was still standing in the middle of the room with her gun raised up at the ready, her face was deathly and blank. Skye looked to the other side as Ward’s gun fell to the floor with a crack, the color had drained from his face and he had a look of utter shock on his features.

His hand went to the wound in his chest and he stumbled backwards his eyes wide and terrified.

It was Jemma’s turn to sneer, She put the gun back to her side, “Did you think I was kidding? I told you that if I ever saw you again, I would kill you.” She said calmly.

He stumbled backwards clutching his chest as the blood fell to the floor, He mouthed the word “You?” before he collapsed on the floor and his body fell limp and his eyes closed, blood still dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Jemma finally turned to Skye, her eyes wet and she dropped the gun on the floor, her lip quivered as she moved to where Skye was on the floor and she fell into the captains’s arms. “I wasn’t going to leave you!”

Skye wrapped her arms around the smaller woman, tears running down her face as she finally realized that she was safe. Jemma buried her face in the other woman’s neck and sobbed happily.

Skye pulled her away and kissed her, blood and tears making it wet and desperate, “Jemma Simmons you incredible thing you. I love you I love you so much.”

Jemma laughed and fell back into her arms, Skye held on to her and didn’t let her go for a long time. She closed her eyes and just enjoyed the feeling of being close to Jemma.

Skye only looked up a few minutes later when she heard footsteps coming towards them. Her mouth dropped and she pulled Jemma away. “My mother? You told my mother?” She cried.

Jermma laughed, “It was Alecta’s idea!” She defended herself.

May stood over them, smiling very lightly as she saw that her daughter was okay. Skye stood up and embraced her, May, who wasn’t much for hugs, hugged her back and stroked her hair sweetly.

When they broke the hug, May gave her a skeptical look, “This girl—“ She said, pointing to Simmons, “Came to my home, interrupted my meditation, has repeatedly sassed me and talked back to me and even went as far as to prevent me from helping you, saying, and I quote ‘Ward is mine.”

Skye grinned, “So you like her?”

May nodded, unable to keep from smiling as Jemma moved underneath Skye’s arm and hugged on to her middle. She blushed.

“So if you’re here,” Skye began, “Is there anything left of the city?”

May chuckle, “No.”

Skye turned to Jemma, holding on to her arms, “Jemma Simmons would you like to stay with me for a little longer?”

“Well, I did save your life, I think you owe me dinner at least.”

“Deal, I was thinking about a Martian Delux, I know this great place, I think you’d love.”

Jemma moved closer and May rolled her eyes and walked away, “Sounds lovely, as long as there’s still a place on your ship for me.”

Skye kissed her, wanting to make the moment last forever, “There’s always a place by my side for you Jemma Simmons.”


	21. Epilogue: The Hula Girl II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set a few months after Skye's escape from the O'Nahn prison and what their life has become now that they're working together.

“What do you think, darling?”

Skye and Jemma stood at the top of a docking station in Tah’Woh, they were standing on one of the precarious steel pathways that looked over the station. Below them, a newly finished ship was in the process of boarding the rest of it’s crew.

It was a war ship, with black exterior and red seams, its size was probably a little big for what it was being used for, however, it was going to be able to make up for it’s size with it’s speed and weapon ability. Down where the ship’s ramp was lowered, dozens of people, mostly of Naht’Wunan decent were moving up and into the ship that would not only be able to be a place of work but also a home. 

At the front of the ship where the designation would be, there were the words “The Hula Girl” welded from the original ship (Not a very easy feat since they had to pull it out of the wreckage), leaving a patch like appearance to the front of the ship. At the end of the name, the symbol II was tacked on with some degree of humor. 

The two women stood proudly and examined what they had created and designed together, Skye looked over to the shorter woman and smiled, “I think she’s perfect.”

Jemma kissed her now fiance and then pulled her by her hand down the path, “Lets go.”

Skye followed behind her excitedly and they, after waiting until everyone was on the ship, were the last one to board and closed the ramp. Inside, it was just as large and impressive, with an elegant and minimalistic design, a preparation for what they hoped would be a life that would eventually fill every hall with interesting and beautiful relics. 

This was the first time Skye and Jemma had been able to see the ship completely finished and in the process of taking off. They walked to the end of the docking area and went to a lift. It would be able to take them to any part of the ship. Something that they would need since this ship was large enough to have separate sections for nearly everything they could possibly need, from hospital, engineering and mechanical, science, weapons, bridge, and recreational.And that isn’t including the ten floors just dedicated to living areas. 

The lift stopped and they walked out onto the floor dedicated to the sciences, they went to the door at the very end to the main lab. Inside, Jemma’s eyes brightened and they marveled at the incredible set up. The leader of the Naht’Wunas, the woman who had spoken first to May, named Vu’Qunuh was leaning over the edge of one of the tables, signing excitedly to Helen. 

They looked back at the women when they entered and Vu’Qunah beamed at them, she raised her hands, “This place is truly incredible. There are no limits to what we can learn.”

Helen stood beside her and nodded when she was finished, “Yes, well Vu’Qunah is a skilled scientist even with her limited access to education.”

“It’s us that needs to be thanking you, you and your people loaning us the Silver Tongue is one of the things that made this possible, we could never thank you enough.” Skye shook the leader’s hand and then embraced her. 

Then Jemma added, “You are always welcome on the bridge, if you want.”

Vu’Qunah smiled but shook her head and signed, “Thank you but my place is here.”

A rich but slightly robotic voice came through the intercom, “Are we leaving anytime soon or should I take a nap?”

Skye rolled her eyes, “We’ll be there in a sec’ Ku’ut.”

They said their good byes and then went back to the lift headed for the bridge. They wanted to visit Mack in engineering and Trip in Medical and see how they liked their new positions but the I’Nek was right, they really should be getting to their own positions. 

Skye turned to Jemma, “We’re going to be able to do a lot of good with this ship. So much more than with the first Hula Girl.” Then she added, “But are you sure we should have named it The Hula Girl II?”

Jemma shrugged, “Well, it is the name of the ship that you first kidnapped me in.”

Skye scoffed, “Is that going to be a thing? Like 20 years from now when I’m like ‘Hey, Jem I don’t really like those curtains’ you’re going to be, like, ‘You kidnapped me, Skye!’ is this a thing?”

The shorter woman doubled over and laughed, “Oh dear..”

“Well, is it?” She asked, grinning wildly as Jemma continued to laugh.

“Well, I suppose if the shoe fits--”

Skye threw her arms up and groaned causing her fiance to laugh even more. When Jemma regained her composure she continued where she had originally left off, “Also, it’s a rather misleading name, don’t you think? People don’t expect to be scared of a ship called the Hula Girl, they won’t think much of her until they’re suddenly in battle with her.”

“Like you?”

Jemma raised an eyebrow but didn’t answer, then the door opened at the bridge of The Hula Girl II and Skye held out her arm, “Captain Simmons?”

Jemma took it with a smile, “Captain Skye.” Then they walked into the command center of their ship. 

In the middle of the room, which looked like it came from a 1st class war ship, Ku’ut was standing at her own personal security station. She looked over and rolled her eyes when they entered. 

When they came into the room, the woman sitting in the second in command seat stood to greet them, Morse held out her hand and smirked, “Captains.”

She had shown up halfway through the battle as they tried to get out of O’Nah, some of the ship had come from her newly “Found” money with the agreement that she would be able to work with them if she invested a certain amount in this endeavor. Skye had been hesitant but Jemma assured her that Morse was trustworthy, or at least, trustworthy for a pirate.

Skye shook her hand, “Morse.”

Nueh’Nah stood up from where she was sitting at one of the navigational consoles, she ran up and hugged Jemma. The captain stroked her hair sweetly, they had become even closer as Jemma had begun giving her lessons in her spare time, now she was on the bridge with them.

Morse sat back down and Skye and Jemma moved to the middle of the room to look at the viewing screen which showed the void ahead of them. Skye looked down to Jemma, “So, where do you want to go first? We can go to any corner of the universe. Treasure and glory, baby.”

“We’re going to Earth first so that I can pick up my cat and you can explain to my poor parents exactly what’s been happening these past months.”

Skye stared back at the viewing screen with a blank face, then said, "Nueh'nah set the coordinates for earth. And my doom. Warp speed."

Jemma rolled her eyes and grabbed onto Skye's hand, leaning on her shoulder as they began their first adventure in their new life together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I can't believe that I'm finished with this story! I hope it was worth the read and hoped you all liked it, thank you so much for the comments and the kudos, I really appreciate all the support :)
> 
> And to Eva, You are the sweetest, most amazing person and your support has been invaluable to me while I've been writing this, thank you so so so much!

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to leave a comment! :D


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